Mahua Moitra slams TMC leaders’ misogynist remarks on Kolkata gangrape

Mahua Moitra, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP, criticised party leaders Kalyan Banerjee and Madan Mitra on Saturday for their controversial comments about the latest Kolkata gangrape.

Moitra stated on social networking site X that "misogyny in India cuts across party lines" and that the difference is the TMC's tough stance against such remarks, regardless of who makes them.

Her comments came shortly after the TMC publicly distanced itself from the statements made by Banerjee and Mitra, describing them as personal and not representative of the party's viewpoint.

The party underlined its zero-tolerance policy towards crimes against women and demanded the harshest possible penalty for those engaged in the tragedy.

Earlier, the Kolkata Police arrested four people, including a security guard, in connection with an alleged gangrape of a law student on the campus of South Calcutta Law College in Kasba.

Two of the accused are current college students, while the prime accused, Monojit Mishra, is a former student. The survivor filed an FIR on June 26, one day after the incident, TNIE reported.

Senior TMC leaders made offensive statements, escalating the matter. MP Kalyan Banerjee sparked anger by asking, "What can be done if a friend rapes his friend?" He enquired, "Who will protect her?" MLA Madan Mitra received harsh criticism for claiming that the survivor might have averted the catastrophe.

He stated that nothing good would happen if someone contacted them when the college was closed and offered them a position in the unit. He said it was better not to go. His words were severely regarded as victim blaming.

In response to statements, BJP leader Amit Malviya accused TMC leaders of engaging in "plain and vile" victim-blaming.