NEW DELHI: A 24-year-old law student was gang-raped inside South Calcutta Law College allegedly by an alumnus and two senior students, with a medical examination confirming signs of brutal sexual assault including “forceful penetration, bite marks and nail scratches on her body,” a Kolkata Police officer told PTI.The incident took place on the evening of June 25 inside a guard’s room adjacent to the student union office, police said, after the woman was reportedly assaulted for rejecting a marriage proposal from the main accused.The three men, including a practising criminal lawyer and two senior students have been arrested and remanded to police custody for four days. Forensic experts have sealed the crime scene and seized mobile phones of the accused for further investigation.According to the complaint filed at Kasba police station, the student had visited the college to fill out exam forms when she was asked to stay back. She alleged that after refusing a marriage proposal from the prime accused, she was physically assaulted, dragged into a room, and raped while the other two accused stood guard. The ordeal allegedly lasted over three hours, from around 7.30 pm to 10.30 pm.The survivor further told police that she was filmed during the assault and threatened with the release of the footage. She was also warned against informing anyone, with threats made against her boyfriend and family, police sources told PTI.“We are trying to find out whether the footage was forwarded to other numbers,” the officer added.Chief Public Prosecutor Sourin Ghosal told PTI that, “According to a Supreme Court judgement, all persons in a group involved in cases of gang rape must be held liable, even if all of them did not commit the act of rape. In this case, two other persons helped in the rape. So this is a case of gang rape, and they are also accused in the case.”The prime accused, a former student of the law college, had been hired as temporary non-teaching staff for 45 days. His social media profiles claimed he was a former president of the college’s Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) unit and a current office-bearer of the south Kolkata wing of the TMC’s student body. Photos circulating online also show him alongside senior leaders of the ruling party.The Trinamool Congress has denied any current link with the accused and demanded “severe punishment” if he is found guilty.The case has triggered political uproar and street protests. Supporters of the SFI-DYFI clashed with police outside Kasba police station on Friday. Protesters from the BJP, Congress and AIDSO were also detained following separate demonstrations.Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has warned of escalating protests, while both the BJP and Congress have announced agitation programmes for Saturday.TMCP president Trinankur Bhattacharya distanced the organisation from the accused, saying the student union at the college has been defunct for years.State Minister Shashi Panja, addressing a press conference, said, “The state government stands firmly with the victim and her family. Instead of making the victim a battleground for politics, her pain must be understood, she must be respected, and justice must be ensured – swiftly and unconditionally.”The National Commission for Women has taken suo motu cognisance of the case and directed Kolkata Police to submit a detailed report within three days.The case has drawn comparisons with the August 2023 rape and murder of a medical intern at RG Kar Medical College, which also sparked widespread outrage and calls for better campus safety measures across West Bengal.(With inputs fro agencies)
