A woman standing near South Calcutta Law College in Kasba with her seven-year-old daughter said the alleged gang rape at the college on Wednesday has left her disturbed and concerned for women’s safety.

Avita Basu Banerjee, 38, a working professional and resident of Kasba, was on the pavement in front of the college around 11.30am on Saturday.

Banerjee had walked in many ‘Reclaim the Night’ marches to protest the rape and murder of the 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor of RG Kar Medical College last year.

“The horrifying incident at South Calcutta Law College shows that no lessons have been learnt. As I stand here in front of the college, I’m getting goosebumps. I shudder to think that such an atrocity happened in my own neighbourhood,” she told Metro.

Banerjee said she felt unsafe. “I feel unsafe for myself and for my daughter, even though she’s right next to me. What if someone touches her inappropriately on the pavement? A fear psychosis has gripped me.”

She added that she had attended numerous protests alongside her daughter, but the recurrence of such crimes has left her disturbed.

“If this is the outcome, what’s the point of all the protests? These repeated atrocities have left me numb and frustrated. When a parent sends their daughter to college, they trust the administration to keep her safe. What were they doing? How did the campus become so unsafe? How can parents send their daughters to study here now?”

Banerjee is not alone in her concern. The fear and anxiety over safety have seeped into the minds of many.

Soma Mistry, 36, another Kasba resident, was passing the college with her 11-year-old daughter around noon on Saturday. She pointed toward the building and told her child, “This is where it happened.”

Mistry, who had hoped her daughter would one day study at the law college, said the incident changed her mind.

“I want my daughter to become a lawyer, and I thought I’d enrol her here for LLB in the future. But after what happened on June 25, I can’t take that risk. I can’t send her to a place where she may be unsafe.”