Kolkata: Permanent presence of Monojit Mishra aka Mango on the campus and his stares were undoubtedly unsettling, claimed girls at the law college, where Mishra allegedly raped a girl, while two of his aides filmed the act. Police on Monday confirmed 11 cases had been registered against Monojit at various police stations, four being molestation charges.
Second-year student Vaagmi Trivedi recounted that Monojit behaved inappropriately with girls when they had gone on a picnic in Oct 2023. "We were in our first year back ten. There was a guest house with three rooms—one for girls, one for boys and one for Monojit. After 3 pm, he started drinking with his friends. He sent one of his lackeys to call me to the room, saying I would have to sing for them. Others had already cautioned me, and I did not go," said Trivedi. Another student claimed that Monojit molested another first-year girl in a room, where she was alone, talking to someone. "He pounced on her and touched her inappropriately. Later, Monojit and his gang threatened her into silence," the student said.
Trivedi pointed out that on their way from the picnic, Monojit harassed a senior student in an auto to Budge Budge station. "He went and sat on her lap. Shocked, we told him to sit in front. He did go but asked my senior to sit on his lap," she said. Students said fear kept them from complaining.
A fifth-year student, Rokeya Dasgupta, said Monojit's gaze made women uncomfortable. "We stopped coming to college for this," she said. Echoing her, a batchmate said, "Just 10 days ago, I was waiting near the union room and the way Monojit stared at me from inside, it was disturbing.
" This fear factor had been such that a fourth-year student from Murshidabad said he had not been attending college since Sept last year after Monojit assaulted him for not including him in a Teachers' Day event. The boy was attacked near Lake Mall and was found injured near Tollygunge PS, leading to months of treatment and relocation to New Town.
Students said co-accused Pramit Mukhopadhyay was into substance abuse and displayed inappropriate images of women. Trivedi said they had warned Zaib Ahmed against Monojit's influence.