The alleged rape and unaccounted death of a 14-year-old girl in the Nadia district of West Bengal have given rise to a heated political debate in the state. At the center of the debate is Mamta Banerjee; the chief minister of the state who dismissed the case by referring to it as a “trivial love affair”.
Her statements came after being continuously pestered by the media to comment upon the alleged involvement of the son of a leader of the Trinamool Congress in the case. “The police are yet to discover the cause of the death; will you call it rape or was she pregnant? Maybe it was the fallout of a love affair?
Have you inquired about all of this? It is an unfortunate incident”, she commented while inaugurating a mela- prangan in Kolkata. She has also accused the family members of the girl and the local villagers of being aware of the illicit affair. In another series of shocking statements Banerjee also commented, “If a couple is in a relationship, we cannot stop them, this is not UP where we can do anything and everything the name of Love Jihad”.
The incident took place on 5th April, when the girl died an unfortunate death after being allegedly gang-raped at a birthday party, at the house of the accused. According to the parents who lodged a police complaint on 10th April, the girl was bleeding profusely when she returned home and succumbed to her injuries a few hours later.
The family has also alleged that they were being continuously forced to cremate the dead body even before the death certificate was issued.
The prime suspects in the case were arrested on April 10, 2022; however, the remarks by the chief minister triggered strong reactions from various opposition parties. BJP condemned Banerjee for her trivializing comments and questioned if her agenda was to derogate the investigation and influence the probe. Similar sentiments were echoed by Suvendu Adhikari; the leader of the opposition who stated that such comments only prove that the chief minister is trying to shield the culprits.
“When similar incidents take place in BJP ruled states, she is the first one to state her opinions but when such atrocities take place in Bengal, she becomes a mute spectator and tries to shield the culprits,” he said in a statement targeting Banerjee. Her actions have also received criticism from CPI (M) as well as Congress. Claims of many such incidents being unreported in Bengal have been made by the Leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha and state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan.
Several opposition leaders have referred to this incident as a prime example of lawlessness in the state of Bengal. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi has admitted public interest litigation on the matter, the hearing of the same is scheduled on Tuesday.
The chief secretary of state has been sought by Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar for a detailed report of the entire incident. TMC has condemned the incident but has divulged the matter by stating that it should not be politicized. “The cops are investigating and accessing the situation and have also made an arrest. The opposition should wait for the investigation to be over and should not try to politicize the matter”, commented TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh.
Published By: Aman Gupta
Edited By: Vanshika Sahu
