Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra Saturday said the party condemns “disgusting comments no matter who makes them” after it disassociated from two of its leaders’ — MLA Madan Mitra and MP Kalyan Banerjee — remarks on the alleged rape of a 24-year-old student at a law college in Kolkata.
Moitra, reacting to an official statement by the TMC, also said misogyny in India cuts across party lines. “Misogyny in India cuts across party lines. What differentiates @AITCofficial is that we condemn these disgusting comments no matter who makes them,” her post on X read.
Misogyny in India cuts across party lines. What differentiates @AITCofficial is that we condemn these disgusting comments no matter who makes them. https://t.co/2AQ59fQK4w
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) June 28, 2025
The controversy was first triggered by TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee on Friday, a day after the incident came to light. Banerjee said that police personnel can’t be deployed in every college and that men should “save their female colleagues”. He also called upon women to “stand against such crimes”.
A day later, the party’s MLA from Kamarhati Madan Mitra said that the incident “could have been avoided if the victim had not gone or taken friends along with her.” “If she had informed someone or taken two friends along, this could have been avoided,” he added while talking to mediapersons on Saturday, triggering outrage over his remarks.
What TMC said
In its statement on Saturday, the TMC said it unequivocally disassociates itself from the statements by MLA Mitra and MP Banerjee, adding that both were made in “their personal capacities”.
“The remarks made by MP Kalyan Banerjee and MLA Madan Mitra concerning the heinous crime at South Calcutta Law College were made in their personal capacities. The party unequivocally disassociates itself from their statements and strongly condemns the same. These views do not reflect the position of the party in any manner whatsoever. Our stance remains resolute; we have zero tolerance for crimes against women and demand the strictest possible punishment for all those involved in this heinous crime,” the statement on X said.
Both Mitra and Banerjee have disagreed with the TMC’s statement, denying that they had in no way “tried to shield the culprits”.
“I personally feel that my statement has been totally misled and misused by a motivated group whose basic intention were to malign the image of our party AITC by wrongly focusing my statement to serve their own purpose… However I just have gone through the statement of AITC and request my party high command not to misunderstand me while I am ready to face any enquiry to clarify my statement in person, I do believe that my party will consider twice before taking any further movement in this matter,” MLA Mitra wrote on X.
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Meanwhile, MP Banerjee, in a strongly worded reaction on X, said he wishes to distance himself from “those who are encouraging or protecting these criminals”
“I completely disagree with the post made by @AITCofficial on X. Are they indirectly supporting the leaders who are shielding these criminals?… To truly understand the intent behind my words and statements, a certain level of moral and intellectual alignment is required — which, unfortunately, seems to be missing,” he wrote.
The case so far
Earlier on Saturday evening, Moitra said the probe into the rape case currently underway is going on a “war footing”. The TMC-led state government has “zero tolerance” for crime against women, she added. A five-member SIT headed by an Assistant Commissioner of Police has been formed to investigate the incident that took place on Wednesday.
The Kolkata Police have made four arrests in connection with the case so far with the latest one being a security guard at the college, identified as Pinaki Banerjee. The other three people arrested earlier include Monojit Mishra, the prime accused who is a former leader of the TMC’s student wing and an ex-student of the college, Zaib Ahmed, and Pramit Mukherjee.
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The medical report confirmed several abrasion marks on the victim’s body and said that “sexual assault cannot be ruled out”.
On Saturday, the BJP constituted a four-member fact-finding committee which is expected to visit the incident site soon and submit its investigation report to party chief J P Nadda.
