Protests escalate over Kolkata student rape case, BJP State President Sukanta Majumdar detained

Protests continued and intensified in Kolkata on Saturday over the law student’s gang rape inside her college. Bharatiya Janata Party State unit president Sukanta Majumdar was detained in one of the protests in the city. Meanwhile, senior Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee’s statement on the rape incident has sparked backlash.

The BJP said the comments made by Mr. Banerjee were made “in favour of the rapists” and “shameful.”

“If a friend rapes another friend, then how will the government provide protection in such cases? Police cannot be in every corner,” Mr. Banerjee said. He further stated that women’s safety is at stake because of the mentality of men.

BJP’s Amit Malviya called the statement “a trivialisation of the crime”, and accused the ruling Trinamool of shielding its members.

Mr. Banerjee has also stated that women should stand up against such crimes and male colleagues should protect them because police cannot be deployed inside a college campus.

Protests intensify

On Saturday, BJP workers organised multiple protests to condemn the gang rape. They clashed with police in several parts of Kolkata and its outskirts. At Gariahath crossing close to the college where the incident took place, Sukanta Majumdar was seen being escorted into a police van during a scuffle. “This is the face of democracy in West Bengal. Police have arrested us and are not allowing us to even voice our opinions,” Mr. Majumdar said before being detained.

Many other BJP workers were also detained along with Mr. Majumdar. He also said the police were only being used by the Trinamool Congress government to detain them and not to protect its citizens.

Protests were also organised by Congress workers outside the college where the sexual assault took place. Left-led protests were also seen across the city. Many Congress protestors called for an end of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool regime in Bengal. BJP protestors on the other hand said that they want to prove that all abusers in the State are from Trinamool Congress.

Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh on Saturday condemned the incident but asked political leaders to not politicise the issue and said that they are not trying to shield the accused while also calling for strict punishment.

Mr. Ghosh said the party stands with the survivor and her family member and demands exemplary punishment for the accused.

Senior Trinamool leader and Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said the BJP fact-finding team should visit BJP-ruled States where allegations of sexual assault have come to the fore. “We are not saying that it is not fact. We are not shielding the accused in any way. Within 12 hours of the incident, the police have arrested three persons,” Ms. Bhattacharya said.

Till now, the police have arrested four people in relation to the rape incident. Meanwhile, the survivor visited a city court to record her statement.

Women’s safety issue

The Trinamool, under growing scrutiny, has distanced itself from the 31-year-old main accused. Trinamool student wing head Trinankur Bhattacharya acknowledged that Monojit Mishra — one of the prime accused — had earlier links with the party but insisted that “individual misconduct does not define the party”. Trinamool officials said the accused did not hold any official position in the part since 2022.

Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, meanwhile, denied any official association of the main accused with the Trinamool. “They might be supporters, but they had no relation to the TMC. Anyone who does [join] TMC based on ideals can never commit such crimes,” Mr. Hakim asserted.

However, visuals of Monojit with top Trinamool leaders have continued to circulate on social media, further fuelling the Opposition’s narrative that the ruling party has cultivated a culture of impunity.

The college where the incident took place has already increased security and installed more CCTV cameras on the premises. This has also brought criticism from political parties as many said that the CCTV installation after the crime transpired is ‘fruitless’.

Memories of RG Kar resurface

This incident has not only triggered a legal and political showdown but has reopened the conversation around women’s safety and political patronage in educational institutions in West Bengal and brought back memories of the RG Kar rape and murder that shook the nation in 2024.

“These crimes are being committed purposefully. They are ruining the name of our educational institutions. There was so much protest and outrage when my daughter died, but what purpose did it serve? Such incidents continue to shake the State,” the mother of the R.G. Kar victim said while commenting on the issue.