Kolkata: Two men watched as a third raped a 24-year-old law student inside a guardroom at South Calcutta Law College on Wednesday night, after forcing the guard to leave, stated a claim made in police complaint.
According to the complaint, which was assessed by NDTV, the incident happened around 7.30 pm after a meeting of the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), the student wing of West Bengal’s ruling party.
The survivor said three men, identified only by the initials ‘J’, ‘M’, and ‘P’, cornered her, and ‘M’ and ‘P’ locked her in a room with ‘J’, who then tried to rape her. She said she pleaded with him to let her go, even touching his feet, but he did not stop.
The woman suffered a panic attack during the assault and begged for an inhaler. The accused then called the other two inside, but they didn’t help her. One eventually brought the inhaler, after which she tried to escape. However, she was forcibly taken to the guardroom, where she said the assault continued while the other two watched.
She alleged that the guard was thrown out of his room, and the main accused raped her while threatening to harm her family and boyfriend if she reported the incident. She also said she was hit on the head with a hockey stick during the attack.
In her complaint, she identified one of the accused, ‘M’, as a powerful former student and unofficial head of the TMCP unit in the college. The survivor said she finally gathered the courage to go to the police the next day because she wants justice.
BJP accused Trinamool Congress of shielding the accused, who they claimed is close to senior party leaders like Abhishek Banerjee. Photos of the accused with top leaders have also surfaced online. The Trinamool has not issued an official response yet.
Police have launched an investigation and arrests have been made. The National Commission for Women has demanded immediate action in the case.