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A political row erupted in West Bengal on Saturday after Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra said that the alleged gangrape of a student inside a law college in Kolkata on June 25 “could have been avoided if the victim had not gone or taken friends along with her”, The Indian Express reported.
The Trinamool Congress, the ruling party in West Bengal, distanced itself from Mitra’s remarks and condemned them. The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party criticised Mitra and described his remarks as “victim-blaming, plain and vile”.
The alleged gangrape had taken place inside the campus of the South Calcutta Law College between 7.30 pm and 10.50 pm on June 25. The police on Friday said that three men had been arrested in connection with the assault.
All three men – identified as 30-year-old Manojit Mishra, 20-year-old Pramit Mukherjee and 19-year-old Zaib Ahmed – were produced before a court on Friday and remanded to four days of police custody.
On Saturday, Mitra told reporters that “if that girl had not gone [to the site of the incident], this would not have happened,” The Indian Express reported. “If she had informed someone or taken two friends along, this could have been avoided,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.
Mitra described the crime as “heinous” and said the party would not spare anyone who is found guilty, the newspaper reported.
The MLA, who represents the Kamarhati seat, also claimed that Mishra, who has been listed as the prime accused in the crime, was no longer associated with the Trinamool Congress.
This came after the BJP earlier shared images of Mishra with leaders from the Trinamool Congress, including MP Abhishek Banerjee.
“TMC is a big party,” The Indian Express quoted Mitra as saying. “There are people everywhere who claim to be associated with TMC. We get our photos clicked with everyone – but what’s inside a person, only a psychologist can tell.”
He added that “people take photos with TMC leaders and then start calling themselves TMC leaders too”.
A day earlier, another party MP, Kalyan Banerjee, asked what could be done “if a friend rapes his friend”, the Hindustan Times reported. He also urged women to be cautious about those with such “dirty mindsets”.
On Saturday, the Trinamool Congress said that the remarks by Mitra and Kalyan Banerjee were made in their “personal capacities”.
In a statement on X, the ruling party in the state said that it “unequivocally disassociates itself from their statements and strongly condemns the same”.
“These views do not reflect the position of the party in any manner whatsoever,” the Trinamool Congress added. “Our stance remains resolute; we have zero tolerance for crimes against women and demand the strictest possible punishment for all those involved in this heinous crime.”
The remarks made by MP Kalyan Banerjee and MLA Madan Mitra concerning the heinous crime at South Calcutta Law College were made in their personal capacities. The party unequivocally disassociates itself from their statements and strongly condemns the same. These views do not…
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) June 28, 2025
However, Amit Malviya, who is in charge of the BJP’s West Bengal unit, claimed that the Trinamool Congress had once again “chosen to slander the woman – not support her – just to shield a close aide of [Chief Minister] Mamata Banerjee’s nephew”, the Hindustan Times reported.
“Let it sink in: No woman is safe from these TMC predators; And the less said about the likes of Madan Mitra in TMC, the better,” Malviya said. “Mamata Banerjee isn’t just complicit – she is the problem,” Malviya added.
The BJP’s West Bengal united also shared Mitra’s statement on X and said: “From questioning the character of the rape victim in Park Street Rape case to a new low!”
“He [Mitra] effectively proves what the government once declared after RG Kar case – No women should go out alone or work at night in West Bengal!” the party said.
The alleged gangrape comes nearly ten months after the rape and murder of a 31-year-old junior doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in August 2024. The doctor, a postgraduate student, was found in the seminar hall at the hospital.
The incident led to protests across medical colleges in the state.
This article first appeared on Scroll.in
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