Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh on Saturday said the rape of a law student on her college campus was a heinous incident but also asserted that he would not listen to the “sermons of opposition parties” on the issue of women’s safety.
The student 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.
Four people, Mishra, his two alleged accomplices and the security guard at the college, have been arrested so far in the case.
“The incident in Kasba is heinous. It deserves a wave of condemnation. The police have made arrests. Let there be the harshest punishment. The Trinamool is also vocal against such social crimes,” Ghosh wrote in Bengali on X.
“But I won’t listen to the sermons of opposition parties like the CPM and BJP. During the CPM’s regime, there was one rape after another, gang-rapes and murders of women. Back then, I didn’t hear any condemnation from the comrades. In BJP-ruled states, these incidents keep happening one after another. Rapists and murderers, once convicted, are released from jail gates and garlanded, only to be sent back to prison when the Supreme Court intervenes.”
He added: “In this state, whenever a deplorable social crime occurs, the top leadership of Trinamool, along with every worker, condemns it. The CPM and the BJP didn’t do that, and they still don’t. The Opposition members who are indulging in rhetoric today are selective protesters, mere actors. The hands of the CPM and the BJP are stained with the disgrace of violence against women, rape and murders of women. People understand their drama and will reject them again.”
College teachers, speaking on condition of anonymity, alleged Mishra ran an illegal admission racket for the LLB programme in collusion with college authorities. The authorities denied the allegation.