The Kolkata Police on Saturday arrested the security guard of South Calcutta Law College in connection with the gangrape of a first-year law student on campus, marking the fourth arrest in the case.
The guard, identified as 55-year-old Pinaki Banerjee, was taken into custody after three others — including the prime accused, a Trinamool Congress leader and former student — were arrested.
“The security guard was arrested this morning after we found that his replies were incoherent. His presence at the college has been captured in the CCTV installed in the college,” news agency PTI quoted Kolkata Police as saying.
Police said the guard failed in his duties during the alleged gangrape incident that took place on the evening of June 25. Investigators are also probing whether he was alone on duty at the time.
“The guard has been inconsistent with his answers on why he did not act accordingly and stopped the three accused from committing the crime. Also, he needs to reply on why and whose instructions he left his room. This is also a kind of involvement in the crime,” the officer added.
Also Read | Law student alleges assault was filmed, accused threatened to upload online
{{/usCountry}}Also Read | Law student alleges assault was filmed, accused threatened to upload online
{{/usCountry}}According to the FIR, the 24-year-old survivor was allegedly raped inside the college’s guard room on June 25. She alleged that the college gate was locked and the security guard was made to wait outside during the incident.
So far, the three arrested — Monojit Mishra (31), a staff member at the college, and students Zaib Ahmed (19) and Pramit Mukherjee (20) — have been produced before the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court in Alipore and sent to police custody till July 1.
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A medical examination has confirmed her allegations, with officials stating that the report showed injuries consistent with sexual assault. The report noted evidence of "forceful penetration, bite marks and nail scratches" on her body, supporting her claim of gangrape.
Police said the incident took place between 7:30 pm and 10:50 pm on Wednesday, when the 24-year-old woman had gone to the college to fill out forms for an upcoming exam.
The survivor alleged that the main accused, Monojit Mishra, first proposed marriage to her and then filmed her while sexually assaulting her inside the college campus, according to the complaint seen by Hindustan Times.
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“He took me near the washroom and tried to force himself on me... I fought back…” she said in her complaint filed on June 26, a day after the alleged gangrape took place.
Mishra, a practising criminal lawyer at the Alipore court, is also identified on his social media accounts as a former chief of the Trinamool Congress’s student wing (TMCP) at South Kolkata Law College.
“When I fought back, he blackmailed me and threatened me. He threatened to kill my boyfriend and that he will get my parents arrested,” she said in the complaint.
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The survivor was allegedly shown a video clipping recorded during the assault and threatened with its circulation on social media if she did not cooperate. “He (Mishra) threatened to show everyone these videos if I didn’t cooperate,” she added.
She also sustained a head injury during the assault and alleged that Mishra attempted to hit her with a hockey stick.
A day after the incident, the woman informed her family and filed a police complaint at Kasba police station.
On Friday, forensic officials visited the college and sealed the site of the alleged crime. Police told the court that the mobile phones of the accused had been seized as part of the investigation.