The 24-year-old law student who was allegedly gang-raped inside the premises of South Calcutta Law College has provided police with a detailed account of her over-three-hour ordeal at the hands of three men, describing hours of torture that lasted from 7.30pm to 10.50pm on Wednesday (June 25) evening before she could escape.
The woman’s statement, given to police on June 26 when she filed her complaint, was clear and without discrepancies, according to several officers involved in the investigation.
The alleged crime
The woman has accused the main suspect, Monojit Mishra, of proposing marriage to her and then orchestrating the assault and rape when she refused. Mishra is a former student and college official who informally ran the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) unit at the college.
The woman told the police she had come to the college on June 25 around 12.05pm to fill out an examination form. She was in the union room with several other students when Mishra arrived and began offering student union positions to those present. The woman was appointed secretary of the girls’ section.
“The woman said she and a few others were in the union room when the prime accused — Monojit Mishra — came into the room,” said an officer of Kasba police station.
Sequence of events
The events are pieced together based on the statement made by the woman to the police.
Around 4pm on June 25, as the woman prepared to leave, she spoke with the current general secretary of the students’ union. They sat in front of the union room when Mishra approached, handed her a packet of biscuits, and invited them inside for discussions about the unit and his personal life. There were around seven of them inside the room.
“A male student (one of the co-accused) called her outside the room and asked about her loyalty towards the unit and Mishra. She said she was absolutely loyal as she had been appointed secretary of the girls’ section,” said an officer quoting the woman.
When she returned to the room, Mishra, the woman told the police, called her and asked her if the student had explained everything.
“She said yes and that she would always be loyal to the unit. At this, Mishra said ‘no’ — he was not asking her about that. He took her out of the room and proposed marriage to her,” said an officer privy to her statement to the police.
The woman told him she had a boyfriend and could not leave him.
Around 6.10pm, as the woman and the others began preparing to leave, Mishra asked the general secretary and the woman to stay for further discussions. At 7.30pm, the general secretary left, saying she had to complete some work and promised to return soon.
The assault
According to the woman’s statement, Mishra then signalled to his two associates, Zaib Ahmed and Pramit Mukherjee — both students — who went outside and locked the door. Mishra allegedly forced himself on the woman near the washroom inside the union room. Despite her resistance and pleas about having a boyfriend, he persisted until she managed to push him away. The woman suffered a panic attack from the trauma and had breathing difficulties.
When the woman requested medical help, the men ignored her pleas. They brought an inhaler when she asked for one, and after she felt better, she attempted to escape with her bag. However, she discovered the main gate was locked, and the security guard appeared helpless to open it.
The two students forced her to return to the union room, where Mishra allegedly ordered them to take her to the security guard’s room and make the guard wait outside.
The rape & recording
Inside the guard’s room, Mishra allegedly undressed and raped the woman. The
police said she told them she tried to resist but was threatened with her boyfriend’s murder. She said Mishra showed her two videos that had been recorded of her assault and warned her that they would be circulated if she didn’t readily meet him when called.
She said that Mukherjee and Ahmed stood watching when Mishra was raping her.
“The woman said that she suffered head injuries and was also assaulted with a hockey stick before she decided to give up. She said the torture ended around 10.50pm when she managed to leave the guard’s room. She went back to the union room and collected her mobile phone that had been snatched from her,” the officer said, quoting the woman.
Threats & escape
After collecting her mobile phone from the union room, the woman was again threatened with her boyfriend’s life and her parents’ arrest. Mishra allegedly warned her not to tell anyone and to claim they had only been discussing union matters.
The woman left the college and called her father to pick her up. Initially too frightened to report the crime to the police, she later decided to file a complaint.
“But now I have made up my mind,” an officer quoted the woman as saying, adding that as a law student herself, she demanded justice.
The case, coming less than a year after the rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar hospital, has prompted arrests and protests, highlighting ongoing concerns about campus safety and sexual violence in educational institutions. The impunity and audacity of those perceived to be close to the ruling dispensation have again raised questions about the safety of women in key institutions, be they educational or in hospitals. The administration has a lot to answer for.