Bengal: One accused in Kasba law college rape case granted bail

Kolkata, Oct 13 (IANS) A court in Kolkata, on Monday, granted bail to one of the four accused in connection with the rape of a law student within her college premises at Kasba in the city earlier this year.

The accused person who was granted bail is Pinaki Banerjee, a security guard of the law college, who, as per the statement recorded by the victim with the police immediately after the incident on the evening of June 25, was the "sole helpless" witness to the crime on her.

However, the investigating officials termed him an accused on the grounds that he remained a silent spectator while the rape of the law student was taking place in the guard room within the college premises.

The accused was granted bail by the court in Kolkata on Monday against a personal bond of Rs 20,000, nearly four months after he was arrested by the police.

However, the three others accused in the case, namely Monojit Mishra, Jaib Ahmed, and Pramit Mukhopadhyay, will continue to be in judicial custody.

While Mishra has been identified as the perpetrator of the crime of rape of the law college student, Ahmed and Mukhopadhyay have been identified as the facilitators in the crime.

Reacting over the granting of bail to his client, the counsel of Pinaki Banerjee, said that the investigating officials could not prove that his client had any kind of involvement in the crime.

"The other security personnel of the college gave statements that the overall atmosphere there was such that my client really had nothing to do to prevent the crime," he added.

Monojit Mishra, a former student of the college and also a contractual employee of the institute, had past criminal antecedents.

The college authorities have been accused of offering him a contractual appointment, ignoring his past criminal records.

Mishra and the other two accused in the case, namely Jaib Ahmed and Pramit Mukhopadhyay, were actively involved with the students' wing of the Trinamool Congress.

--IANS

src/khz