The South Calcutta Law College, run under the aegis of the West Bengal Government, was the scene of a heinous rape, a dastardly gang rape perpetrated by a former student of the same college and his henchman, both young law students.
A four-member Fact-Finding Committee, including sitting and former members of Parliament, was constituted under the instructions of the BJP President, JP Nadda, to ascertain the facts. The members of the Committee were chosen after keeping in mind their professional expertise, understanding of law, society, culture/demography, and the sensitivity of the incident.
The state of West Bengal has always been known as ‘Devi Kshetra’, and women have been safe and respected in a more gender-equal society. Yet under a woman Chief Minister, it is shocking to see the atrocities on women rising, especially on young girls, and the alarming fact is that so many of these crimes have the involvement of Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers.
Other parties and states have crimes against women, but West Bengal is the only state with a protectionist policy of its party goons.
What stands out in these cases is the impunity with which crimes are being committed against women by political party workers, repeatedly.
Investigation and findings
A copy of the FIR shared by the West Bengal BJP divulged that the names of the perpetrators have been erased and substituted with the initials I, G, S, P, and D, which have no link to the initials of the main accused. This raises a pertinent question: Who committed the crime? Since these initials do not match any of the accused. The prime accused in the case has been identified as Monojit Mishra or ‘Mango’, the alias he chooses to carry.
This shocking tampering with the original complaint by persons unknown has no logic. Is there political pressure on the police to cover up this heinous act of barbarism against a young woman? We were denied access to the survivor, ostensibly to safeguard her privacy and ensure her safety, but political compulsion seems to be at play. A mobile number, said to be the survivor’s father’s, was provided to us, but all calls remained unanswered, and WhatsApp messages sent to the number were delivered without a blue tick. It appears that the girl and her family members have been spirited away to an undisclosed location. They might not be permitted to meet with anyone and pressured by the police to make statements that suit those in power.
Similarity to RG Kar case
Both the Law College and RG Kar Medical College rape cases expose a chilling pattern of sexual violence on campuses, enabled by political patronage and administrative failure. In both incidents, the accused were granted unchecked access to college spaces under the pretext of maintaining order. In one case as a volunteer and in the other case as a staff member. Instead of safeguarding students, they reportedly exploited this access with a predatory eye on women, weaponising power and fear and terrorising the students. These cases underscore the deep criminalisation of student politics and the systemic failure to protect female students in educational institutions meant to empower them. I wrote in detail about the RG Kar case.
Pattern of state patronage
There have been no student body elections in the last eight years in any college in West Bengal. But student bodies continue to function. These TMC party workers are given positions in student bodies, governing bodies, and to some extent, they allegedly infiltrate the police stations as well, either as so-called volunteers or they are appointed officials. Whether an FIR is to be registered or not will be decided unofficially by these ‘volunteers’, as to how the cases will be settled, and their legal outcomes.
Further investigation into the incident threw up some astounding revelations. Every political party has fringe elements that run amok and create havoc. Disciplinary committees within parties take strict action and party workers engaging in criminal activities and crimes of such a heinous nature as rape are subject to disciplinary action not limited to expulsion and black listing. A party worker committing a gangrape is tantamount to political harakiri, and worse is to offer such criminals protection by well-oiled political machinery. However, the TMC seems to be following a zealous pattern of protecting its own. Our investigation revealed Monojit Mishra’s criminal activities and history-sheeter background.
Monojit Mishra’s involvement in multiple criminal incidents is to be noted. In 2014, he allegedly tried to kill a young man with a bamboo stick in Alipore. He was accused of weapon assault in the law college against a student in 2017. He allegedly threatened a businessman with a firearm in 2018, in Kalighat. In 2022, he allegedly committed a brutal assault against a woman. He was reportedly charged under non-bailable sections, yet he continued to roam free. Last year, he allegedly tried to kill a 24-year-old man in Kolkata’s Tollygunge.
And yet he was appointed as a “temporary clerical staff” in the college, reportedly earning Rs. 500 daily. He had visited jail four to five times even before the present occurrence. These facts were well known to the college administration. But since that man is allegedly an active member of the TMC student body, and he was engaged by the governing body, he had full access to the college, and he was allowed to do whatever he liked in the college.
The governing body appointed Mishra; the members of the governing body are appointed by the West Bengal government, and the president of the governing body is none other than TMC MLA Ashok Kumar Deb. The president reportedly denied appointing Mishra. “I am a politician, so people approach me. I did not recommend anyone for appointment,” he said. We leave you, dear readers, to add up things.
Mishra was reportedly a member of the TMC unit in the South Calcutta Law College, which was dissolved due to complaints of “rowdyism”. Despite the dissolution, his clout grew and he was ‘feared’ as the party’s ‘de facto strongman on campus’, with the ability to call the shots in terms of the day-to-day running of the institution and ‘misusing his influence with impunity’.
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Ad-hocism of student politics
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has nothing to say about the state of student politics in West Bengal. This is how student leaders are born in Kolkata. They first unleash a reign of terror, then join a party that supports them, and then get political patronage to indulge in their favourite brand of politics. The basic question is why crimes against women are happening in a state that has a woman as the chief minister. I have been quoted as saying: “In a predominantly matriarchal society, where Goddess Durga is worshipped, is this what we are coming to?”
Despite having 11 cases registered against him, Mishra was appointed by the college’s governing body as an ad-hoc staff, circumventing all the police verifications and the background checks required by law to have access to the government campus.
The procedure for government employment is simple. For on-campus appointments, a candidate typically responds to a gazetted advertisement, after which shortlisted applicants undergo background checks or police verification to safeguard the interests of students, the college, and the university.
But when you are politically well-connected or a hired goon for a party in power, you get hired with a specific purpose—to ensure that you have adequate student recruitment for your party, ensure sufficient membership to flood the party coffers. In the case of Mishra, it was likely his job to ensure that the campus fell in line with the state government’s agenda. This cartelisation of university politics is not healthy—-whether in Bihar, Karnataka or West Bengal. If we don’t want the state to slide into a ‘Mango’ Republic, we need to keep many such ‘Mango’ Mishras far away from our campuses.
Meenakashi Lekhi is a BJP leader, lawyer and social activist. Her X handle is @M_Lekhi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)