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Kolkata rape accused's lawyer claims scratch marks on body are ‘love bites’
Monojit Mishra's lawyer questions the rape allegation, suggesting a need for forensic exam of the victim's phone. Four persons have been arrested in the case.
Monojit Mishra, the prime accused in the gang-rape of a 24-year-old law student in Kolkata, has told his lawyers that “scratch marks” found on his body during a medical examination were “love bites”.
“...I asked him ((Monojit) what happened that he has such serious allegations against him. He told me that everyone is making him out to be a villain. I told him that it is being said that he has several scratch marks from nails on his body...He took off his shirt, I showed him one mark (points at the neck) and asked him what it is,” Manojit Mishra's lawyer, Raju Ganguly, told ANI on Wednesday.
“He told me it is a 'love bite'. When I asked him who gave him that, the Police took him away...I could not see any scratch marks from nails on him. I could see one mark (on the neck)...”
Ganguly further demanded that the phone of the victim should also be seized, sent to forensic and its call record be produced before the court.
Also Read | ‘Women on campus…’: What law student revealed about Kolkata rape accused Monojit Mishra's terror in college
"I feel that perhaps this is not a rape case. I have not yet come to a conclusion, I would be able to tell you by 20th July whether this is rape or not..." the lawyer told the news agency.
Kolkata ‘gang-rape’ case
The alleged gang-rape took place inside a security guard’s room on the premises of South Calcutta Law College on June 25. The police have arrested four persons in connection with the case. First, they held the prime accused, Monojit Mishra, and his co-accused, Zaib Ahmed and Pramit Mukherjee, who were students of the law college. Later, college security guard Pinaki Bandyopadhyay was also arrested.
Medical examination had earlier revealed nail-inflicted injuries on Monojit's body, indicating that the victim tried to fight back during the assault.
"There are signs of injuries, precisely scratch marks, on the body of Monojit. These injuries are fresh. Such injuries happen when someone faces struggle or resistance," news agency PTI had reported, quoting a source within the police department.
A medical examination of the law student also corroborated her statement, with doctors discovering evidence of "forceful penetration, bite marks, and nail scratches" on her body. A CCTV footage of the campus also showed the survivor being dragged by the accused inside the college premises.
