Kolkata rape case: Monojit Mishra's return to campus made girls uncomfortable, many bunked classes, ‘Controlled every…’

The infamy of Monojit Mishra, known as ‘Mango’, at the South Calcutta Law College was such that when he returned to the college in mid-2024 as an ad-hoc staff member, it triggered fear and unease among female students. Many students told The Times of India that Monojit's presence changed the campus atmosphere drastically.

Girl students said that when Monojit, prime accused in the rape of a first-year student in the college, was back on campus, they stopped attending classes as they felt uncomfortable. “The entire environment changed. His presence was intimidating. I used to attend all my classes until mid-2024, but after he returned, I avoided college altogether. I switched focus to internships instead,” a second-year student told TOI.

“He would click girls’ photos, post them on groups, and propose to every other girl,” another said.

“He controlled every little thing. He had access to every document on the campus, like details of students, their phone numbers and addresses. He would call them over phone or even send his cronies to issue threats at their residence,” a third student told TOI.

Even male students were not spared—some reported being bullied and harassed by him too.

Monojit was framed: Counsel tells Court

Monojit's counsel on Wednesday claimed that his client had "consensual sex" with the victim and that he was "framed" for a crime of which there is "no video evidence" as being claimed in certain quarters.

Advocate Raju Ganguly, who appeared for Mishra in court, maintained that the suspect did not perpetrate any torture on the victim and referred to the presence of "love bites" on his client's body in support of his claim.

"My client has been framed. The two had consensual sex, and there is evidence of that. There are marks of love bites on the left side of Monojit's neck. My client has done nothing wrong," Ganguly said.

Sources at the Alipore court, which heard the remand prayer of Mishra and the two co-accused, Zaib Ahmed and Pramit Mukherjee, on Tuesday, however, told PTI that the defence counsel made no such submissions before the judge.

The court extended the police remand of all three prime accused in the case till July 8 and that of the arrested security guard, Pinaki Bandyopadhyay, till July 4.

(With inputs from TOI and agencies)