Post by : Anis Farhan

In the heart of Kolkata, where South Calcutta Law College stands as a supposed symbol of justice, a chilling betrayal unfolded that has stunned the nation. A 24-year-old law student, who stepped onto that campus to pursue her dreams of upholding the law, found herself brutalized within its very walls. On the night of June 25, 2025, she was allegedly gang-raped inside the guard’s room—just steps away from classrooms meant to shape the next generation of legal minds. This incident has exposed not just a heinous crime, but the dark underbelly of institutional failure, political interference, and moral decay that few have dared to fully confront.

The sequence of events, reconstructed from CCTV footage, police records, and survivor testimony, reads like a harrowing indictment of a system that failed at every level. The footage reportedly shows the student being dragged from the college gate into the guard’s room. This was not an act hidden in the shadows. It happened in plain sight, on a campus that should have been a fortress of safety. Investigators have pieced together hours of CCTV clips, which they say support the survivor’s account of how she was overpowered, assaulted, and humiliated.

What followed inside that guard room is almost too painful to narrate. The survivor, in her statement to the Special Investigation Team, described being struck with a hockey stick by one of the accused and lying still, “like a dead body,” as the crime unfolded. One of the attackers allegedly recorded videos of the assault, turning an act of violence into a tool for blackmail. These details, confirmed through the recovery of mobile phones, videos, and physical evidence, form the backbone of a case that has outraged the public and shaken the legal community.

The failure of the institution to act swiftly only compounds the horror. The college administration admitted it learned of the incident not from its own security apparatus, but from media reports days later. The police, in what they described as a measure to protect the integrity of the investigation, had advised the college to remain silent. But this silence became a symbol of the larger rot—an institution so unprepared for crisis that it allowed outsiders to control its spaces, and so beholden to political influence that it failed to protect its own students.

Behind this crime lies an uncomfortable truth: the unchecked politicization of student unions and campus facilities. Reports suggest that certain rooms on campus were effectively under the control of politically affiliated student leaders, who decided who could enter, who could stay, and who could be silenced. This culture of intimidation created an environment where crimes could occur with terrifying ease.

The police response, while eventually decisive, came after crucial time had passed. The Special Investigation Team was expanded to nine members, and investigators recovered key evidence including the hockey stick, clothing from both the survivor and the accused, DNA samples, and the incriminating videos. These efforts, while commendable, serve as a reminder that justice often arrives after irreparable damage has been done.

The political reactions have been as telling as the crime itself. Some leaders, instead of unequivocally standing with the survivor, made statements that appeared to question her circumstances or deflect blame. These comments were rightfully condemned across party lines, with voices demanding that leaders focus not on justifications, but on solutions. The survivor’s ordeal should have unified political will against such violence. Instead, it exposed deep-seated prejudices that continue to infect public discourse.

As this case moves through the legal system, the questions it raises must not be ignored. How could such a failure of safety occur in a law college? Why did the institution not have mechanisms in place to detect and stop such an atrocity? And perhaps most critically, what will be done to ensure that no other student, in any college across India, suffers such a fate?

This is not just the story of one young woman’s suffering. It is a reflection of a national crisis—of campuses where safety is compromised, where political muscle outweighs moral responsibility, and where institutions falter when their students need them most. The survivor has shown immense courage in coming forward. Now, the burden shifts to the system: to deliver swift, impartial justice, to reform campus governance, and to rebuild public trust.

If India’s educational institutions are to remain places where young people can dream freely, they must become places where safety is guaranteed, and justice is more than a subject in the syllabus. This case must not fade from public memory. It must mark the beginning of real, measurable change.