The alleged gang rape of a law student from West Bengal’s Kolkata – months after the horrific RG Kar rape-murder case – has triggered a fresh and (furious) showdown between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the Assembly election next year.
Three men – including Manojit Mishra, a 31-year-old former student of the South Calcutta Law College -in Kolkata’s Kasba area – have been arrested and charged with rape. The other two men – Zaib Ahmed and Pramit Mukhopadhyay, according to news agency ANI – are believed to be current students.
A practicing lawyer, Mishra is the primary accused and the BJP – on the warpath with one eye firmly on the forthcoming election – has shared photographs showing him with senior leaders from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool, including her nephew and second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee.
The BJP has also raked up the RG Kar case to highlight the ‘sinking into lawlessness’.
BJP National Spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari and the party’s IT chief, Amit Malviya posted images that seem to show Mishra standing next to Trinamool leaders including Mr Banerjee; Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya, and Councillor Kajari Banerjee, the Chief Minister’s sister-in-law.
Yet again Mamata Banerjee’s govt is found standing with the accused!
Accused no 1 Manojit Mishra is a TMC member!
Whether it is RG Kar Rape and Murder case where Mamta Banerjee tried to silence victims parents,
Or now when accused in Kasba gangrape case is found to be a TMC… pic.twitter.com/mYuAYjRgwh
— Pradeep Bhandari(प्रदीप भंडारी)🇮🇳 (@pradip103) June 27, 2025
“Yet again Mamata Banerjee’s government is found standing with the accused! Manojit Mishra is a TMC member. Whether it is the RG Kar rape and murder case, where Mamata Banerjee tried to silence the victim’s parents or now, when the accused is found to be a TMC member…” Bhandari said.
OUTRAGEOUS! Manojit Mishra, one of the prime accused in the brutal gang-rape of a college student in Kasba has direct links with the most powerful in the TMC:
➡️ MP Abhishek Banerjee
➡️ Councillor Kajari Banerjee (Mamata Banerjee’s sister-in-law)
➡️ State Minister Chandrima… pic.twitter.com/6cnN2iSao4— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) June 27, 2025
He also alleged a cover-up, claiming the woman’s location was being hidden. “Why the silence? Who are they shielding? And where is the outrage from Mamata Banerjee or TMC…”
Neither Ms Banerjee nor her party has responded so far, but Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim has, if only to tell reporters this morning he would not comment on the crime without being briefed by the cops.
“I have just heard of the matter from mediapersons. The matter is serious. I can speak on this issue only after getting the details of the case,” he said.
The three accused have been sent to police custody for four days.
Initial reports say the sexual assault took place late Wednesday night, possibly between 7.30 pm and 8.50 pm, in a room on the college premises.
The young woman is undergoing a medical examination to confirm sexual assault.
Minutes after news of the rape broke, the BJP’s Amit Malviya tore into Ms Banerjee, sharing a Bengali news report and writing, “Horrific! A female law student was gang-raped inside a law college in Kasba, a suburb of Kolkata, on June 25…”
“The horror of RG Kar hasn’t faded… and yet such heinous crimes continue to rise daily in Bengal. Under Mamata Banerjee’s rule, Bengal has become a nightmare for women…”
Neither Ms Banerjee nor the Trinamool have responded to Mr Malviya and Mr Bhandari’s jabs.
The RG Kar Rape, Murder
This comes 10 months after a rape and murder at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The RG Kar case, as that came to be called, made national headlines for its brutality; the woman’s body was found in a seminar room on the college premises and the autopsy concluded she had been raped and possibly tortured – there were injuries to her genitals, the left leg and right hand, and face.
The cause of death was strangulation.
Sanjay Roy, a 33-year-old civic volunteer for Kolkata Police, was arrested and convicted for the rape and murder of the woman, and was sentenced to life in prison, a punishment seen by many as lenient.
READ | ‘Must Rise Above Eye For Eye’: Why No Death Penalty For RG Kar Convict
Many, including the family, demanded the death sentence.
With input from agencies
