Headlines
Why no arrest over nun's gang rape, NCW asks Bengal
Kolkata, March 21
The National Commission for
Women (NCW) slammed the West Bengal administration on Saturday over its
failure to arrest any of the culprits involved in the gang rape of a
septuagenarian nun in Nadia district.
The sister superior of the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Ranaghat -- some 80 km from Kolkata -- was gang-raped on March 14.
While
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had immediately ordered the Criminal
Investigation Department to investigate, police were yet to arrest
anybody.
A four member NCW team led by Shamina Shafiq met convent
officials on Saturday and also held talks with police and district
officials.
"The pictures of the people (perpetrators) are there
in the camera, the faces are seen but still no arrests have been made,
why? This is one question that needs to be answered," Shafiq said after
meeting the convent authorities.
"We cannot expect such an
incident happening to anyone, let alone to a nun who is there to serve
humanity. It is shocking and heart-wrenching. We absolutely condemn it,"
she said.
Facing backlash over police's inability to make much
headway in case, Banerjee had on March 18 announced that the Central
Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was being entrusted to take over the
probe. However, the central agency is yet to formally take over.
Discharged
from the Ranaghat sub-divisional hospital Friday, the rape survivor
subsequently left the state for an undisclosed location, which prompted
the opposition parties to call it an "embarrassment" for Banerjee and
her ruling Trinamool Congress.
Besides the NCW, the Prime
Minister's Office as well as the National Human Rights Commission have
also taken cognizance of the matter and sought detailed reports from the
Banerjee government.