Kolkata law college gang-rape accused had demanded death penalty in RG Kar case

KOlkata: The undercoat accused, Monojit Mishra, in the alleged gang-rape of a 24-year-old educatee on the s calcutta jurisprudence college campus in Kasba, had demanded the death sentence for the guilty in the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder case last year.“Want death sentence for the rapist. Want justice and not drama. Want immediate justice. Want death sentence for the guilty,” Mishra had written on his social media account on August 16.The body of the 31-year-old second-year postgraduate student, who was raped and murdered inside a seminar hall of the hospital, was found on August 9. The crime occurred late at night in the third-floor seminar hall of the chest department. Police later reported that multiple lacerations and wounds were found on her body, which triggered a nationwide uproar. The Sealdah court sentenced the accused, Roy, to life imprisonment on January 20, observing that the case did not qualify as “rarest of the rare,” the threshold for a death sentence.Police said the alleged incident on Wednesday took place between 7.30 pm and 10.50 pm, when the woman — allegedly the TMCP’s women’s wing secretary in the college — had gone to fill out some forms for an upcoming exam.Four people — a staffer, two students, and a security guard — from the government-run law college have been arrested so far, with a political row erupting over the grim crime.Former student of the college and now a non-teaching staff Monojit Mishra (31), along with two students — Zaib Ahmed (19) and Pramit Mukherjee (20) — were arrested on Thursday, while the security guard was arrested on Saturday.Vice-principal of the college Nayna Chatterji said, “Mishra was recruited purely on a contractual basis around 45 days ago, on the directions of the governing body of the college. TMC legislator Ashok Kumar Deb is the president of the governing body.”Also Read: West Bengal: College security guard arrested in Kolkata law college gang-rape caseDeb responded, saying, “I am the president of the college’s governing body, but I never recommended Mishra’s name. It was the governing body’s decision. As far as his photo with me is concerned, many people come and take photos with me. I am a public representative. How can I know what they are doing in their private lives?”The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that Mishra was a key office-bearer of the student wing of the TMC. BJP legislator Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition in the state legislative assembly, also shared a photo of Mishra with TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee on X.However, the ruling party said he never held any important position. “The TMCP has had no active units in that college over the past few years. When Mishra was a student, he was given the lowest post in TMCP’s South Kolkata district. There are 36 such district committees under TMCP. In 2022, when the South Kolkata district president formed a new committee, Mishra’s name was not included. Can any organisation take responsibility for what a member or employee might do in their personal life in the future?” TMCP state president Trinankur Bhattacharjee said on Friday.