Women on Campus Lived in Fear’: Law Student Details Accused Monojit Mishra’s Reign of Intimidation at Kolkata College

Days after the arrest of Monojit Mishra in connection with the alleged rape of a 24-year-old law student at South Calcutta Law College, another student from the same institution has come forward to describe the climate of fear Mishra allegedly fostered on campus.

Speaking to NDTV on the condition of anonymity, the student revealed that many female students deliberately avoided attending classes to escape interaction with Mishra, describing an “atmosphere of intimidation.” According to her, Mishra regularly clicked photos of female students, morphed them, and circulated the images in WhatsApp groups.

She further alleged that Mishra had a history of sexually harassing women on campus and that his behavior had been widely feared. “There were several FIRs filed against him, but no action was taken due to his political influence,” she claimed, suggesting that Mishra operated with impunity. “No one dared to touch him because he was politically safeguarded,” she added.

The student recounted multiple past incidents involving Mishra, including a 2019 case where he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman and tore her clothes, and a 2024 incident where he reportedly beat a security guard and damaged college property. She also claimed he was involved in theft. According to her, Mishra’s own parents had disowned him; his father is said to be a priest at Kolkata’s Kalighat temple.

Mishra, along with two other accused—Pratim Mukherjee and Zaid Ahmed—was arrested after the survivor filed a police complaint alleging rape inside the college premises. Investigators have since stated that the assault was premeditated.

A senior police official told PTI that the accused had been “planning to torture” the victim for several days and that she had been targeted from the moment she joined the college. A nine-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case has also discovered that the trio had a history of sexually harassing women on campus. Reports indicate that they filmed the assaults and used the recordings to blackmail the victims.

Kolkata Police have launched a search operation to recover the alleged video footage, with raids conducted at the residences of Zaid Ahmed and Pratim Mukherjee on Sunday.