Kasba law college rape case: Charges framed against four

Kolkata: Charges were framed on Wednesday against four accused, including a security guard, in the Kasba law college rape case at the Alipore District Judge Court.

The trial is scheduled to commence on January 27, when recording of witness statements will also begin.

According to sources, the court framed charges against a former student of the college, Monojit Mishra alias Mango, two students—Zaib Ahmed and Pramit Mukherjee—and a security guard, Pinaki Banerjee. The charges include alleged gangrape, wrongful confinement, blackmail, assault and causing disappearance of evidence, among others. Of the four, Banerjee was granted bail on grounds of age, with his defence claiming that he was overpowered.

The case relates to an incident on June 25 last year, when a first-year student was allegedly forced into the security guardroom inside the college premises and gangraped by Mishra, Ahmed and Mukherjee. The police chargesheet stated that the accused used gaps between the blades of an exhaust fan in the guardroom to record the assault.

Investigators later recovered the videos from the mobile phones of the accused, which form a key piece of evidence.

The chargesheet further alleged that Mishra blackmailed the survivor using the footage and that the crime was premeditated. It also noted that Ahmed and Mukherjee had left the union room despite being aware of Mishra’s intent to harm the student, and that the security guard allegedly vacated the room when the victim was taken there.