‘Protector of rapists’: BJP, TMC trade barbs over Kolkata law student gangrape

Kolkata law student gangrape: BJP leader Amit Malviya accused the TMC of protecting rapists, alleging that the party uses the crime as a "political tool".

The Bharatiya Janata Party and the ruling Trinamool Congress engaged in a war of words over the alleged gangrape of a law student in South Kolkata and the prime accused being a former TMC leader.

The Bharatiya Janata Party shared prime accused Monojit Mishra's purported pictures with TMC leaders. (X/@amitmalviya)

The row escalated as police arrested Monojit Mishra, a former president of the TMC youth wing, identifying him as the prime accused in this case.

BJP West Bengal's co-incharge, Amit Malviya, condemned the incident as "another shameful chapter" in Bengal's "collapsing law and order under TMC rule". He further alleged that the gangrape took place right outside the union room of the TMC students' wing (Trinamool Chhatra Parishad).

Malviya termed the incident as a "symptom of a deeper rot". He raised several questions about the case, asking why a student was summoned to the TMCP union area, or how a former student was roaming freely inside the campus.

The BJP leader also asked as to where the college administration was at the time of the incident and why no one was alerted when the survivor "cried for help".

"If reports are to be believed, the girl was taken to a bathroom first, then dragged into a room after screaming. If that’s the case, was everyone in the building deaf, blind, or just afraid to speak against TMCP? TMC MUST ANSWER," Malviya wrote in a post on X.

The incident, Malviya said, shows the failure of the TMC government in protecting women, adding that their dangerous student politics treats campuses like "crime zones".

The Bharatiya Janata Party demanded that the accused be immediately arrested and punished accordingly. The saffron party said it will raise the issue on every forum, "until justice is delivered".

"TMC’s institutional protection for rapists will be crushed. BJP stands with Bengal’s women — and we will fight until this ends," Malviya added.

In a separate post, Malviya alleged that the prime accused, Monojit Mishra, has direct links with the most powerful in the TMC, including MP Abhishek Banerjee, Mamata Banerjee's sister-in-law and councillor Kajari Banerjee, and state minister Chandrima Bhattacharya. He also shared purported pictures of the accused with the said leaders.

"This is not just a crime. This is a cover-up of the highest order. TMC is a party of rapists and protector of rapists," the BJP leader added.

He stated that the BJP will "not allow Mamata Banerjee's regime to silence the voice of justice".

The West Bengal BJP unit's X handle also shared purported images of Monojit Mishra with TMC leaders.

Then again in a post on X, Malviya said for the TMC, "rape is not a crime - it's a political tool". He termed the West Bengal CM "the enabler, the evil".

"If you want the women in your homes safe—throw Mamata Banerjee out," he added.

Earlier in the day, West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari took a jibe at the TMC government and said that "anything can happen in this state".

He said that there is no safety for women in the state. "The chief minister would now say it is a small incident and offer money to the victim. She must resign," he added.

TMC spokesperson Jay Prakash had responded to Adhikari, saying it was unfortunate that the leader of the opposition was "launching an attack over a social menace".

TMC's hit back at BJP

While condemning the gangrape of the law college student, the Trinamool Congress pressed on the need to implement the Aparajita Anti-Rape Bill.

The party slammed the BJP-led central government, saying that "it has not lifted a finger to get it (the legislation) implemented".

Following the West Bengal BJP and Malviya's post showing Monojit Mishra with leaders of the TMC, the Mamata Banerjee-led party raked up the alleged rape case involving Prajwal Revanna, a former JD(S)legislator from Karnataka's Hassan. Notably, JD(S) is an ally of the BJP in the southern state.

TMC shared a picture of Revanna with other politicians and said that he "confined women, raped them, filmed the acts, and later threatened" them.

"And who is he sharing the stage with? None other than @narendramodi!" the party wrote.

Sharpening its attack at the BJP, the TMC asked as to when was the last time the saffron party "took action against a single person who has been accused of raping women?"

"In the IIT-BHU rape case, at least two of the accused were members of the BJP Varanasi IT Cell; shared pictures with the likes of @narendramodi, @amitmalviya, and many others!" the TMC posted on X.