By Sulagna Halder
Kolkata, Monday, 30 June 2025:
With the Special Investigation Team (SIT) broadening its investigation and gathering vital forensic evidence, the investigation into the alleged gang rape of a 22 year old law student at South Calcutta Law College has advanced.
According to police, the SIT, which was first established on Friday, June 28, has been expanded to nine members in order to guarantee a more comprehensive and expedient investigation. The hockey stick that was purportedly used in the assault, the accused's and survivor's clothing, and DNA samples from the people who were arrested are among the important tangible evidence that investigators have retrieved. According to reports, the survivor's statement is detailed in CCTV footage taken from the campus entrance and grounds over a period of almost seven and a half hours.
Multiple video clips of the assault that were purportedly used to threaten the victim were also recovered from the accused's cell phones, according to officials. So far, four people have been taken into custody. One of them is 31 year old contractual employee and former student Monojit Mishra, who was formerly employed by the Trinamool Congress student wing's college unit. Two current students, Zaib Ahmed (19) and Pramit Mukherjee (20), are also in custody. Along with 55 year old security guard Pinaki Banerjee, who allegedly witnessed the crime but did nothing, his contradictory testimony further implicated him, according to police sources.
In her statement to the SIT, the survivor claimed that she had been physically abused and left defenseless. She described how she was struck with a hockey stick and threatened to upload the video of the attack if she spoke out, saying, "I just lay like a dead body." A group from the National Commission for Women, headed by Archana Majumdar, paid a visit to the college campus on Saturday, June 29. She complained that the police were "not cooperating" and that the team was not allowed to see the survivor and her family, expressing her displeasure with the local government.
Advocate Sauma Subhra Ray has, in the meantime, requested that the Calcutta High Court take suo motu cognisance of the incident and order a Central Bureau of Investigation led or court monitored investigation. The petition highlights what it describes as a lack of accountability from college authorities by calling the assault "barbaric" and "premeditated." The West Bengal government has come under fire from Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who claims the government has not done enough to protect women. A four person fact finding committee has also been established by the BJP to visit the college and consult with interested parties.
The college, which was police sealed on Thursday, June 27, is still closed, which worries students who are expected to take exams on July 16.
