- No one should try to make advances on women students or threaten them
- We should be able to speak our minds freely
- College authorities should ensure that no student feels unsafe
Several students of South Calcutta Law College in Kasba spoke about the changes that want to see when the campus reopens after a week-long closure following the alleged gang rape of a 24-year-old student on June 25.
A second-year student said he would want that no one dares to make advances on his woman friends like Monojit Mishra, the prime accused in the alleged gang rape.
“I remember how Mishra proposed to one of my friends by offering her a rose. Mishra told her that he was in a relationship, but still liked her. Such incidents should not be allowed to be repeated,” the student said.
Mishra, who had been arrested as many as five times before being arrested in the alleged gang rape, has 11 cases pending against him.
He also stands accused of threatening students because the college administration allegedly looked the other way.
He was arrested with his two associates — Pramit Mukherjee, 20, and Zaib Ahmed, 19, who are second-year students, and Pinaki Banerjee, 55, a private security guard.
The four have been charged with gang rape and wrongful confinement. They are now in police remand.
The students want the culture of intimidation or coercion to end.
A fourth-year student said Mishra became so brazen that he even tried to dictate who should or should not participate in protests and rallies.
The student last year had mobilised fellow students and staff to participate in a Reclaim the Night rally (on the eve of Independence Day 2024 after the rape and murder of the junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital).
Mishra, the former president of Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) unit at the college, allegedly warned him against mobilising the crowd and beat up the student a month later for daring to defy him.
“This atmosphere of fear must be curbed on the campus. We must be able to decide what we wish to do or where we wish to go without any fear,” said the student.
Another fourth-year student said the trauma of the alleged gang rape on a fellow student would continue to haunt them.
The student said that Mishra had outraged the modesty of a first-year student during a picnic in Budge Budge in October 2023.
“The woman could not gather the courage to file a complaint as Mishra warned her that she would struggle to find any witnesses. This happened because the college administration failed to earn the students’ trust. This image of an inactive administration needs to be dropped. The administration has to be proactive, not reactive,” she said.
Calls and text messages to college vice-principal Nayna Chatterji did not yield a response till late on Sunday.
In a notice issued on Friday, the vice-principal announced that the college would reopen on July 7.
Showing the college ID cards before entering the campus will be made mandatory to stop outsiders from entering the institute.
A third-year student said that similar measures had been announced earlier, but never implemented.
“Now the administration has to ensure that measures are implemented,” the student said.
Several women students said women security guards should be deployed across the campus. “There should be a few women guards present on the campus so that female students feel more comfortable and secure,” said a third-year student.
“We want a grievance cell where we can express our concerns without fear,” said another student.