Veteran Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee has drawn flak over his controversial comments on the reported gang rape of a 24-year-old student at South Calcutta Law College.
The West Bengal BJP forthrightly condemned Banerjee's comments as "disgraceful" and accused him of trivializing the incident.
Banerjee, who is a member representing the Sreerampur constituency, was answering questions from the media regarding the assault case when he made comments that were seen as indifferent to systemic accountability. "What will be done if a friend rapes a friend. Will the police remain in schools? This has been done by a student to a student. Who will guard her (victim)? " he questioned. He further said, "Who does all of this criminality and molestation? Some men do that. So, against whom should women struggle?
Women have to struggle against such perverted men.
These comments elicited criticism for appearing to divert attention away from political and institutional responsibility. Banerjee also declined to take questions regarding the alleged connections of the accused to the student wing of Trinamool, the TMCP. He claimed crime had nothing to do with political affiliations. "I am repeating the same thing again and again.". Whoever has done this must be arrested right away. But if a friend rapes another friend, then how can that be corruption?" he remarked. Banerjee went on to add, "The condition of safety and security is the same everywhere.
These things will keep happening as long as the mindset of men continues like this.
You (reporter) have a political agenda, that's why you have brought this mic to ask your question."
Details of the Allegation
The scandal is about a horrifying episode on Wednesday night, when a first-year law student was allegedly gang-raped within the college campus. The survivor's police complaint states that she had been invited into the room of a guard near the student union office by three people — Monojit Mishra, a former student now 31 years old and a practising criminal lawyer, and two students, Zaib Ahmed (19) and Pramit Mukhopadhyay (20).
She claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Mishra while the other two watched and assisted in the offence. Her complaint also describes physical abuse, including being hit on the head with a hockey stick and being deprived of an inhaler during a panic attack. The survivor has also claimed to have been videotaped during the assault and told she will be killed if she reported it.
Medical records have established evidence of physical violence, such as bite marks, scratches, and penetration against will, substantiating the survivor's testimony.
The three accused have been arrested and remanded into four days of police custody. Their phones have been seized for forensic analysis, and investigators have interrogated for video evidence, in accordance with the survivor's testifying that she was taped.
Political Fallout
Although police moved quickly, the political angle to the case heightened when the survivor identified Mishra as a person with close connections to the TMCP. "He is an ex-student and de facto head of the college TMCP unit. Everyone listened to him," she stated in her testimony.
Photos have emerged featuring Mishra with top TMC leaders, such as MP Abhishek Banerjee and Health Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, adding to political tensions.
The BJP countered with the circulation of these photos and claiming that the incident was facilitated by a political culture of protecting criminals. Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari called for protests across the state and asked the TMC government to publicly speak about the party link. The BJP issued a strongly worded statement that said: "TMC MP comes out in support of rapists! In Kasba, a college girl has been gang-raped by the leader of TMCP and his gang. But women's safety issues are a 'political agenda' for TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee. In the RG Kar case of rape, while Bengal protested en masse through 'Raat Jago,' Kalyan taunts the movement and brazenly asserts the govt has nothing to do if a rape occurs within a college.
So the police can provide umbrellas for TMC leaders and Mamata Banerjee, but not women?
This shameful mindset is the reason why women in Bengal feel neglected, insecure, and unheard.
Trying damage control, Bengal Women and Child Development Minister Shashi Panja spoke to the media on Friday night. She asserted that the state would not politicize the agony of the survivor. "We don't want to politicise the pain of a woman. The police have acted. The accused will not be spared, regardless of affiliation," she stated. Ms. Panja also attacked the BJP for stalling the Aparajita Bill in Parliament — a state legislation bill passed that imposes the death penalty on rape. "Don't speak of respect for women while stalling legislation aimed at safeguarding them," she further charged. Trinankur Bhattacharya, state president of TMCP, meanwhile distanced the organisation from the accused. He explained that the student unit within South Calcutta Law College did not exist since 2019. "He was in office in 2019. How did we know what he would be doing in 2025? Should we have been fortune tellers? Can you even forecast what your friends will do a few years down the line? He was not part of any committees in 2022 or 2023. He is not part of any committees now.
But which party he belongs to is not important.
He is a rapist, he should face justice,” Bhattacharya stated. This event resonates with the shockwaves of an all-too-familiar tragedy — the rape and murder of a medical intern at RG Kar Medical College last year — igniting fresh questions regarding campus security and political interference in Bengal.
Read also| Shubhanshu Shukla Carrying Aspirations Of 1.4 Billion Indians, Says PM Modi
