Headlines
Bengal woman tortured by cops threatens stir
Kolkata, Jan 28
With no arrest yet made for
the alleged torturing of a woman by a police team in West Bengal, the
victim Wednesday threatened to launch a stir if the perpetrators were
not nabbed soon.
The woman has alleged that a police team
accompanied by local Trinamool Congress leaders Jan 17 forcibly took her
away to a jungle and tortured her to extract information about her
nephew, a local BJP leader, wanted for clashes in Parui in Birbhum
district.
In the police complaint filed by the victim's family,
it has been claimed that her entire body was slashed with blades and
nettle leaves rubbed against her body, including in her private parts.
"More
than 10 days have passed but the police have not made a single arrest.
The police and the CID are afraid of arresting the culprits because they
belong to the ruling party. If they are not arrested within two days, I
will demonstrate outside the police superintendent's office," said the
victim.
Actress-turned-politician Roopa Ganguly, who recently
joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said her party will endeavour
to get the intervention of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in
the matter.
"We will not sit quiet. We can't allow the people who
have tortured our people to go scot free. If the CID can't, the CBI
definitely will," said Ganguly after meeting the victim at her house in
Sattore village in Birbhum district.
Ganguly also slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her government.
"What
can we expect from the administration when a MP like Tapas Paul roams
around freely after making such outrageous comments? We have a chief
minister who calls every such incident as a petty matter, the criminals
are bound to get emboldened. That is what is happening today in Bengal,"
added Ganguly.
The victim's family has already approached the
Calcutta High Court, contending that the "act of inserting and rubbing
nettle leaves in her private parts tantamount to rape". It too has been
demanding a CBI probe, asserting the local police and Trinamool
activists have been threatening them.
The National Commission for
Women too has taken cognizance of the matter with its chairperson
Lalitha Kumaramangalam meeting the victim and recording her statement.