Kolkata, June 28 (IANS) The Trinamool Congress, on Saturday, officially censured a party Lok Sabha member and a party legislator for making controversial comments over the alleged rape of a law student within the college premises at Kasba in Kolkata earlier this week.

The two leaders who have been censured in the matter are the four-time Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member and senior advocate of Calcutta High Court, Kalyan Banerjee, and the party legislator Madan Mitra.

After the rape incident took place and three persons accused in the case, all having links with Trinamool Congress’s students’ wing — Trinamool Chhatra Parishad, Kalyan Banerjee made a comment claiming that it would not be possible for government authorities to provide protection in cases, where a friend rapes another friend.

Later, Madan Mitra, infamous for his frequent loose comments, also made a controversial statement claiming that the rape incident had sent a message to all girls that they should not go to college when it is closed.

Both the comments created a stir across the political and social circles in West Bengal.

On Saturday, Trinamool Congress issued a statement claiming that the remarks made by Banerjee and Mitra in the matter were made in their individual capacities and hence the party had unequivocally disassociated itself from their statements and strongly condemned them.

“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 said.

Meanwhile, a Calcutta High Court advocate Souma Subhra Ray, on Saturday, wrote a letter to the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam seeking suo motu cognisance of the court in the Kasba law college rape case.

In the letter, Ray had requested Justice Sivagnanam to issue directions for a court-monitored and independent criminal investigation, preferably by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), to ensure an impartial probe free from state’s influence or interference.

Ray has also pleaded for constituting a judicial commission, headed by a retired judge of the Calcutta High Court, to investigate the institutional, administrative and security failures that permitted this incident to occur.

–IANS

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