Gang rape: Police custody of 3 main accused extended till July 8: Alipore Court lawyers stage protests over gang rape

PTI, KOLKATA, JULY 1, 2025 :  The police custody of the three accused in connection with the alleged gang rape of a first-year student at a law college in Kolkata on Tuesday was extended by eight days till July 8 by a city court.

The three are prime suspect Monojit Mishra, a temporary staffer and an alumnus of South Calcutta Law College where the incident took place on June 25 evening, and two current students – Zaib Ahmed and Pramit Mukherjee. They were arrested on June 26 and produced before a court the following day, which initially remanded them to four days of police custody. Upon production at Alipore Court on Tuesday, their police custody was extended till July 8.

A security guard of the college, Pinaki Banerjee, was also arrested on June 28 in connection with the case. His police custody was extended till July 4.

Around 100 lawyers of Alipore Court took out a protest on the court premises demanding exemplary punishment for the accused on Tuesday. The lawyers, belonging to the Alipore Court chapter of the All India Lawyers Union, went around the campus raising slogans against the incident.

On the other hand, BJP's legal cell members belonging to the Alipore Court Lawyers' Union submitted a letter to the Alipore Court Bar Association demanding that no lawyer represent the rape accused during hearing.

"The heinous crime has tarnished the state's image. We need to give a strong message for women's safety. It is a matter of shame that the prime accused is a practising lawyer as per reports," Subroto Sengupta said on behalf of the BJP lawyers' forum.

He also demanded to know how a lawyer's license could be granted to Mishra despite him being accused in several criminal cases in the past.