West Bengal student's gang rape: South Calcutta Law College to reopen on July 7

NEW DELHI: The South Calcutta Law College, which has been closed since June 29 after an alleged gang rape of a student on the campus, will reopen on July 7, according to a notice issued on Friday. The decision to resume classes was taken after getting permission from the Kolkata Police, which are investigating the incident, a college official said.

The vice-principal said in the notice that no one without a valid official purpose and identity proof will be allowed to enter the college premises during office hours from 8 am to 2 pm from July 7. "After obtaining permission from the Joint Commissioner of Police, I have been directed by the Governing Body to reopen South Calcutta Law College with effect from Monday (July 7) for the following purposes only," the notice said, listing the purposes in subsequent paragraphs.

Notably, the authorities of the college told the Alipore court on Friday that it is keen to reopen the institute. "Only students of first semester of the years of the BALLB course who could not fill up their examination forms are instructed to come on July 7 from 10 am to 12 pm with their college ID card and necessary documents. "Only students of 4th, 6th, 8th semester are directed to come to the college from 9 am to 12:30 pm for their internal projects (4th semester on Tuesday, 6th semester on Wednesday and 8th semester on Thursday)," the notice said.

Students asked to follow regular routine from July 8

Students were also instructed to follow their class routine as usual from July 8. During the court proceedings, the lawyer representing the college said that the authorities had received an email from the police stating that they do not have any objection to the reopening of the institute for academic purposes. The police told the college that only the union room and guard room would continue to remain locked, and documents like employees' attendance registers would have to be retained.

The lawyer said the college told the court that more than 200 students are to appear for semester examinations soon, and they need to fill up forms for that. The authorities of the South Calcutta Law College, where a student was allegedly raped by an alumnus and two of her seniors, decided to suspend classes for all students for an indefinite period, a notification issued on June 29 said. The decision was taken by the governing body of the college. The Alipore court had on Tuesday extended the police custody of the three accused in the alleged gang rape of a first-year student at the law college in Kolkata's Kasba area till July 8.