Kolkata law college security guard arrested in student’s gang-rape case

On Saturday, the Kolkata Police detained a security guard from South Kolkata Law College regarding the gang-rape of a first-year law student that occurred on campus. This marks the fourth arrest in the case, after three earlier arrests of individuals, including the main suspect — a leader from the Trinamool Congress.

Police sources indicate that the initial investigation showed security guard Pinaki Banerjee was on-site during the gang-rape incident. Following the accused’s directions, he exited his guard room, abandoning the victim.

According to police, the guard did not help her despite her numerous requests for assistance. Sources indicated that he was required to inform college officials or the police about the event, but he did not take action. His carelessness was confirmed during interrogation, after which he was taken into custody. The 24-year-old student was attacked for several hours in the security guard’s room on June 25 by the main suspect, Monojit Mishra, a former president of the college’s Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad unit and allegedly an organizational secretary of the south Kolkata branch of the TMC’s student organization. The event became known on Friday, igniting significant anger.

The survivor claimed that the security guard was instructed to wait outside the room once the college’s main gate was secured. She mentioned that the college’s main entrance was secured during the event, and even though the security guard was there, he did not take action. The main suspect, Monojit Mishra, was apprehended on Wednesday, while co-suspect Zaib Ahmed, 19, a freshman, and Pramit Mukherjee, a sophomore, were taken into custody on Thursday.

As per her allegations, the student was assaulted upon arriving at the campus to submit a form for an exam and was forcibly brought to the guard room, where she was stripped and sexually assaulted. The woman reportedly faced assault after refusing a marriage proposal from Mishra, who filmed the incident and subsequently used the recordings to extort and intimidate her.

According to police, a medical exam validated the survivor’s claims, revealing signs of violent penetration, bite marks, and scratches from nails on her body.