Four booked for stripping student in Kolkata college after he asked them about students’ union expenses

The Kolkata Police on Monday registered an FIR against three students and a temporary non-teaching staff of the 153-year-old St Paul’s Cathedral Mission College for stripping a second-year student in the college last month after he asked the accused to submit expenditure of the students’ union they headed.

The victim is the welfare secretary of the union.

The accused also shot the scene on their phones and circulated it. It shows the student crouching on the floor in embarrassment. The incident took place in the evening of May 17 at the union room of the college adjacent to the principal’s office.

The video went viral on June 2 attracting the attention of the authorities.

The FIR was registered after Bengal’s education minister and secretary general of Trinamool Congress Partha Chatterjee said he had asked the aggrieved student to file a police complaint.

“The victim got in touch with me on Sunday and I advised him to lodge a police complaint. I have told the administration to take strict action without caring for who belongs to which camp,” Chatterjee said.

“If the college does not take any action against the accused, we will take steps against the college authorities,” the minister warned.

Hours after Chatterjee’s warning, college authorities announced setting up an eight-member probe committee and asked it to submit a report on the incident in a week.

Though there have been a lot of allegations of torture and atrocities on the campus against members and leaders of Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) in different districts of Bengal over the past few years, there has been no parallel of this incident.

According to officers of Amherst Street police station where the complaint was lodged on Sunday night, the accused were Arnab Ghosh, Sheikh Enamul Haq, Avijit Dolui (students) and Ananta Pramanik (non-teaching staff).

Though Ghosh claimed he is the unit president of TMCP in the college, the state president of the ruling party’s student arm said they did not have any unit in that college.

Former TMCP state president Shankudeb Panda and TMCP leader of Calcutta University Rumana Akhtar also criticised the incident.

“We are not concerned about whether the culprits or the victim owe allegiance to TMCP. We want exemplary punishment for the accused and we will organise a programme to express solidarity with the victim,” said Rumana Akhtar, president of Calcutta University Students’ Union and a TMCP leader.

The victim told the media he saw the four drinking alcohol on the evening of May 17 before they attacked him.

“There was no security guard at that time in the college,” the victim told the media. “I am feeling insecure and tense simply because those who tortured me are roaming free.”

“Some ex-students visit occasionally. It is difficult to define outsiders,” said Debasish Mondal, teacher-in-charge of the college.

College authorities have decided to suspended the temporary employee.