‘If found guilty, he should get maximum punishment': Father of Monojit Mishra, prime accused in Kolkata rape case, speaks out
Two days after Monojit Mishra was arrested in the Kolkata law college rape case, his father is still coming to terms with the news that his son has been accused of raping and assaulting a 24-year-old student for hours.
A priest from Kalighat, Mishra's father (name withheld on request) said he was ashamed after hearing the news. 'We stay in a 6 x 8 ft room. We worked so hard and rose from the lower strata of society to make him a lawyer. It is hard to believe that my son has done it,' he said, speaking to The Indian Express over the phone.
'He is my son. I worked very hard to make him a lawyer. But I must say, if the judiciary, after seeing all the evidence, finds him to be guilty, he should be given the toughest punishment, the maximum punishment. I will accept it with my head bowed,' he added.
Mishra, 31, the prime accused in the rape case, is among the four accused arrested. A former member of the ruling Trinamool Congress's (TMC's) student wing and a former president of its college unit, he allegedly wielded immense clout on the law college campus. The TMC has claimed that Mishra is no longer associated with the party.
Asked if he would pursue the case for his son, Mishra's father said, 'I will not pursue the case or fight a legal battle. Frankly, I cannot afford it. It is a fact that as a father, one's duty is to do everything to see his son become something. What more can a father do? Then this happens.'
Mishra's father said he and his son have been estranged for the last five years. 'We have not had any communication for the last five-six years. He is so busy. I live on my own money. Sometimes clients come enquiring about him, and I tell them this is not his chamber. Since this is his permanent address, his ATM cards and other things come. He collects it,' Mishra's father said.
According to him, since school, Mishra had supported the TMC. 'Later, when he joined law college, he became a leader there. There was so much factionalism in the TMC in his college. There were cases and counter-cases…which is normal in college politics,' he added.
Mishra's father said he loved 'being called 'Dada Dada' in college', liked it when students ran behind him, enjoyed felicitations, etc. 'I always wanted him to be a big lawyer. Now see what happened. Now, wherever I go, I fear people will point fingers at me,' he said.
Ravik Bhattacharya is the Chief of Bureau of The Indian Express, Kolkata. Over 20 years of experience in the media industry and covered politics, crime, major incidents and issues, apart from investigative stories in West Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Andaman Nicobar islands. Ravik won the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award in 2007 for political reporting.
Ravik holds a bachelor degree with English Hons from Scottish Church College under Calcutta University and a PG diploma in mass communication from Jadavpur University. Ravik started his career with The Asian Age and then moved to The Statesman, The Telegraph and Hindustan Times. ... Read More
Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal.
Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur.
He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More
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