Kolkata law college rape: Monojit Mishra was appointed contractual staff violating norms

Kolkata, July 2 (IANS) Monojit Mishra, one of the prime accused in Kolkata law college rape, was appointed as a temporary staff of the same college flouting the basic norm, sources said.

The sources said that when the proposal for Mishra's appointment, also a former student of the same college, was placed before the governing body members a couple of months ago, only four of the eight governing body members voted in favour of clearing that appointment.

However, as pointed out by the institution's sources, the norm is that temporary appointments need clearance by a two-thirds majority of governing body members.

The sources further said that four of the eight governing body members were against Mishra's appointment, considering his criminal antecedents, including hooliganism, causing serious injuries and sexual harassment within the college premises.

However, despite that, his appointment was cleared following insistence from an influential member of the governing body, whom Mishra reportedly addressed as "uncle", the sources added.

Amid the rape controversies, the college authorities have already decided to terminate the contractual appointment of Mishra and have also decided that he would have to return the wages that he received during the interim period.

Two other accused in the case, Jaib Ahmed and Pramit Mukhopadhyay, both current students of the law college, have been expelled from the institution.

However, the leaders of the opposition parties have already started raising the question of how Mishra's appointment was cleared in the first place, ignoring his criminal antecedents.

BJP's Information Technology Cell chief Amit Malviya has already issued a statement on the matter over the termination of services of Mishra and the expulsion of Ahmed and Mukhopadhyay from the college.

Malviya claimed that the question now is who in the governing body of the college, with Trinamool Congress legislator Ashok Kumar Deb as the president and vice-principal as the secretary, cleared Mishra's appointment and who protected him for so long?

"This isn't an isolated lapse. Women in the college have long faced harassment, abuse, and even attempted murders. Yet Monojit Mishra remained in the system, shielded by those in power. Now, after public outrage, they want to wash their hands off? This is not accountability. This is complicity. Ashok Deb, Nayna Chatterji, and every member who facilitated or shielded Monojit Mishra must resign. They must be booked for aiding, abetting, and protecting an accused rapist," Amit Malviya added.

--IANS

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