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Kolkata gang-rape: Monojit Mishra, two other accused expelled from South Calcutta Law College
Prime accused Monojit Mishra was hired by the college on contractual basis just 45 days before he committed the tragic crime within campus premises on June 25.
Amid the growing outrage over the gang-rape of a 24-year-old first-year law student, the South Calcutta Law College on Tuesday expelled all three accused in the incident from the institute with immediate effect.
Prime accused Monojit Mishra, who was hired as a contractual employee at the college just 45 days before he committed the tragic crime on June 25, was also among those expelled.
In addition to Mishra, co-accused Zaib Ahmed and Pramit Mukherjee, who were seniors of the survivor, have also been expelled. The three accused are in police custody till July 1.
The college's governing body announced the termination of Mishra's services and expulsion of the two accused students following a meeting chaired by Trinamool Congress MLA Ashok Kumar Deb.
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“It has been decided to terminate the services of Mishra, and the two other students will be expelled with immediate effect. The security agency, assigned with the security of the college premises, will also be showcaused,” Deb told reporters.
The move from the college comes against the backdrop of growing outrage over the gang-rape incident, which took place within the very premises of the institution. The public has been demanding accountability from the authorities while calling for strong reforms in campus safety protocols.
Monojit Mishra is also an alumnus of the South Calcutta Law College. After his admission in 2013, he was rusticated from the college following charges over stabbing a youth on Chetla Bridge under the Kalighat police station.
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Soon, Mishra vanished from the police radar. He came back to the college in 2017, took readmission and graduated in 2022. Following this, he became a practising criminal lawyer. According to former students, Mishra was associated with the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) and had a notable influence within the institution.
“In December 2016, he was accused of leading a mob of outsiders to vandalise the college premises. FIRs and counter-FIRs were lodged at the Kasba police station in connection with the incident, but for some unknown reason, the cases got dropped,” a former student reportedly told a local news channel.
The expulsion of the three also comes just a day after the South Calcutta Law College indefinitely suspended all its classes for students.
What happened on June 25?
The survivor, in her complaint, said that the accused asked her to stay back when she had gone to the campus around 4 pm on June 25.
ALSO READ | Several pieces of evidence corroborate Kolkata rape survivor’s statement: Cops
He called her outside the Union room and proposed marriage to her. But when the survivor chose to leave instead, he dragged her to the security guard's room within the college and asked the other two accused to lock the door and stand outside.
She said that despite begging and pleading with him, touching his feet, to let her go, he did not listen to her, and raped her.
The survivor's medical examination and the CCTV footage of the college have both corroborated the 24-year-old woman's statements in her complaint.
