South Calcutta Law College Closed Over Gangrape Case
“Every BJP member and official stands firmly with every sister and daughter of West Bengal": retired IPS officer Satypal Singh
KOLKATA: South Calcutta Law College has been shut down by its authorities for an indefinite period in wake of the gangrape of a 24-year-old student by a young Trinamul Congress leader and two of his aides there.
A notice, uploaded on the college website on Sunday, stated, “All B.A.LL.B and LL.M (General and Honours) classes of South Calcutta Law College will be Suspended and the College Premises will remain closed for all Students until further notice as decided by the Governing Body.”
It however did not explain the urgency of the closure. The development came to light on Monday when a bunch of prayers to file public interest litigations were submitted by some lawyers before a division bench at Calcutta High Court seeking its intervention, speedy hearing and justice in the case.
Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Smita Das of the bench however asked the petitioners to serve a notice first to their opponents. The matter may come up for hearing later this week. Meanwhile, a four-member BJP fact finding team landed in the city.
The delegation included former union minister and retired IPS officer Satypal Singh, another former union minister Meenakshi Lekhi, Lok Sabha MP Biplab Kumar Deb and Rajya Sabha MP Manan Kumar Mishra.
Mr Singh alleged, “Every BJP member and official stands firmly with every sister and daughter of West Bengal. I am confident that Mamata Banerjee's government will allow us to visit the site of the incident, discuss with the officers who conducted the investigation, and talk to the college authorities.”
Echoing him, Ms Lekhi claimed, “Communication with the public is essential. Those who are in the administration but do not listen to the public's voice or engage with them are working against the administration.”
In the afternoon, the BJP team, accompanied by union minister and state party chief Sukanta Majumdar, met Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma at Lalbazar, the city police headquarters.
They later visited the college which has already been turned into a fortress with a huge deployment of police personnel. Before their visit, a scuffle unfolded between the BJP workers and supporters of ‘Reclaim the Night' forum during their separate demonstration near the college.
Earlier in the day, law students from at least 10 colleges held a protest rally in Kasba. The city also witnessed agitation by the opposition parties in other parts including Esplanade and BB Ganguly Street over the incident.