Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra sparked controversy by saying the gangrape of a Kolkata law student would not have happened if the woman had not gone to the scene. TMC MLA Madan Mitra offered advise to all girls and said ‘don’t go if someone calls you, offering you a position in the unit when college is closed’.(X/@ANI)

The first-year student of South Calcutta Law College was allegedly gangraped on June 25 inside the campus by Monojit Mishra, an alumnus of the college. Police have arrested the prime accused and three others involved in the crime.

Monojit Mishra, a former member of the Trinamool Congress youth wing, is the main accused. The case has triggered a political clash in West Bengal, with the Bharatiya Janata Party accusing the ruling party of being a “protector of rapists.”

To add to the escalating row, TMC MLA Madan Mitra, while speaking to news agency ANI, sent a message to all girls. He said, “…if someone calls you when the college is closed offering you a position in the unit, then don’t go, nothing good will come of it.”

“If that girl had not gone there, this wouldn’t have happened. If she had informed someone before going or had taken a couple of friends with her, then this wouldn’t have happened,” he stated while referring to the rape of the law student.

Mitra further said that the accused took advantage of the situation. “TMC TMC is a big party. Someone or the other is associated with Trinamool everywhere… We get our photos taken with everyone, but what’s inside a person, only a psychologist can tell,” he added.

The BJP had shared images of the prime accused, Monojit Mishra, with TMC leadership, including MP Abhishek Banerjee. The party heavily criticised the Mamata Banerjee-led party for its links with ‘rapists’ like Mishra.

Madan Mitra told ANI, “People get their photos clicked with TMC leaders and then start calling themselves TMC leaders too.”

In her complaint, the survivor had said that she had gone to the campus in the evening for some work when the accused asked her to stay back. He called her outside the Union room and proposed marriage to her, she alleged. But when the woman was preparing to leave, the accused cornered her and asked the other two persons to stand guard outside.

“It was within fraction of second…He took me near the washroom and tried to force me with the intention of rousing sex,” the FIR read.

Kalyan Banerjee’s ‘What can be done?’ remark

Madan Mitra is not the first TMC leader to stir a row with his remarks on the tragedy. Earlier on Friday, Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee reacted to the gangrape incident and asked, “What can be done if a friend rapes his friend?”

Banerjee had urged women to be cautious of people with such ‘dirty mindsets’.

“I am not an advocate into the incident that occurred at the Law College but the accused should be arrested. A few men commit this type of crime…But what can be done if a friend rapes his friend. Will the Police be there in schools? This was done by students to another student. Who will protect her (victim)?” the TMC MP told reporters.

He also said that such people should understand “whom they are accompanying”.

TMC distances from Mitra, Banerjee’s remarks

The Trinamool Congress condemned the remarks made by party leaders Kalyan Banerjee and Madan Mitra, saying that they were in their “personal capacities”.

“The party 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 Mamata Banerjee-led party wrote in a post on X.

It pressed on its stance of zero tolerance for crimes against, adding that it demands the strictest possible punishment for all those involved in the heinous crime.

BJP lambasts TMC

The Bharatiya Janata Party came down heavily at the Trinamool Congress for its leader’s ‘disgraceful’ remarks.

BJP West Bengal’s co-incharge, Amit Malviya criticised chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s “close aide Madan Mitra” for his remarks and said, “This is victim-blaming, plain and vile”.

He said that the ruling TMC has once again “chosen to slander the woman — not support her — just to shield a close aide of Mamata Banerjee’s nephew”.

“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. Mamata Banerjee isn’t just complicit — she is the problem,” Malviya added.

The BJP West Bengal’s X handle also shared Madan Mitra’s video and criticised TMC, “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 wrote.

The BJP further said that TMC’s DNA is “anti-women”, adding that the party does not seek justice, “they seek to sabotage women”.

“It’s a pattern. From Mamata Banerjee to Kalyan Banerjee to Kakali Ghosh Dastidar and Sashi Panja – TMC is the root cause of the rise of crimes against women in West Bengal,” it added.

Additionally, the BJP state unit also slammed TMC’s move to “disassociate” from the statements made by Kalyan Banerjee and Madan Mitra.

“Disassociation for what? TMC is a party of rape-sympathisers, rape-enablers and serial offenders,” it wrote. The BJP listed a series of remarks made by TMC leaders, including party chief Mamata Banerjee, on sexual assault incidents from 2012.

It also listed assault incidents where TMC leaders were involved, and added that “Bengal can never be safe for women until TMC is thrown out of power”.