Kolkata rape case: Main accused Monojit Mishra has criminal record of assault, theft

In a significant development, Kolkata Police on Sunday (June 29) said that Monojit Mishra, the main accused in the alleged gangrape of a 24-year-old law student at South Calcutta Law College, has a criminal record with multiple past charges. Mishra has reportedly been chargesheeted in several cases including harassment of women, assault, vandalism, and theft.

"Monojit Mishra is a history-sheeter with many cases and chargesheets pending against him in the Kolkata Police jurisdiction," a senior officer was quoted saying to The Telegraph. The police added that he has several cases registered in Kalighat, Kasba, Alipore, Haridevpur, and Tollygunge police stations.

Mishra and two others have been arrested by police on charges of sexually assaulting a first-year law student on the college campus on June 25. The incident took place within a security guard's room between 7.30 and 10.50 PM.

Mishra allegedly pressured her to marry him and, after she refused, threatened to kill her boyfriend and get her parents arrested under false accusations. Mishra, 31, is a practicing criminal lawyer at the Alipore court. He also presents himself on social media as a former student union chief of the Trinamool Congress's student wing (TMC) at the law college. Although he attended the college four years ago, he was known to be working with the college on an informal basis until recently. The Trinamool Congress has since cut him loose.

Past cases against Monojit Mishra

According to police records, The Telegraph report said that in 2019, Mishra allegedly tore a woman's clothes in South Calcutta Law College, for which a chargesheet was filed. He was also charged with theft in the same year, specifically, stealing a gold chain, perfume, a music system, and glasses from a friend's residence in Haridevpur on New Year's Eve. The FIR in the case was lodged during the first week of January 2020, and the police subsequently chargesheeted him.

In another incident, according to The Telegraph, he allegedly harassed a woman in Kasba in March 2022. Latest, in May 2024, the administration of law college filed a complaint with him for assaulting a security guard and damaging property at the campus.

On Saturday (June 28), the police arrested a security guard of South Kolkata law college in Kasba, where a 24-year-old student was allegedly gang-raped on Wednesday (Jun 25) evening. The arrest is the fourth in the case after earlier arrests of a staffer, Monojit Mishra (31), and two students – Zaib Ahmed (19) and Pramit Mukherjee (20) – on Thursday (Jun 26). According to the police, the incident took place between 7:30 pm and 10:50 pm on Wednesday.

A five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed by Kolkata police to investigate the case, PTI reported, citing a senior officer. The woman, who was reportedly the TMCP’s women’s wing secretary in the college, had gone to the college to fill out forms for an upcoming examination. In her complaint, she stated that the accused, Mishra, asked her to stay back for some discussions. Mishra allegedly proposed marriage to the student, which she declined, saying that she had a boyfriend. However, the accused then tried to force himself on her.

A medical examination confirmed the allegations of gang-rape made by the woman. According to the report, doctors found evidence of “forceful penetration, bite marks, and nail scratches” on her body. The survivor said in her complaint that the main accused ignored her requests to let her go.

“I touched his feet, but he did not let me go, but he did not listen,” she said in her statement. “He asked the other two to take me inside the guard’s room and make the guard sit outside. They did so.” According to the CCTV footage from the scene, the security was loitering outside, but did not attempt to help the victim, inform the college authorities or report the crime.