In a barbaric incident in West Bengal, a woman has been brutally raped by a local TMC Panchayat member and three Muslim men after she had demanded a refund for the cut money bribe she had given to get her house under a scheme for rural below-poverty-line (BPL) households.
According to reports, the incident took place in Maynaguri, some 16 km from district headquarters Jalpaiguri. An FIR had been lodged against four people, including a local panchayat member of Trinamool Congress.
Reportedly, the accused, Mohammad BulBul Alam had allegedly assured the woman of providing a house under the Gitanjali Awas Yojna. The scheme, launched by the state government, provides free shelter to the poor.
The victim, who is a resident of Saptibari panchayat area in Maynaguri belongs to a poor family. The family did not have the means to construct a house. She alleged that they had to pay Rs.7,000 bribe for allocation of a house under the government scheme.
However, despite after a year, they did not get any house allocated from the state government. Later, the victim woman approached the panchayat member to ask for the refund of the cut money.
When she went to ask for her money on August 14, she was allegedly gang-raped by the panchayat member of Trinamool Congress Mohammad Alam and his associates. The three other accused have been identified as Zaidul Islam, Jainal Abedin and Afidul Haq.
The victim has lodged an FIR against the panchayat member in question and three of his associates. The local police are yet to find any of the accused. The investigators have decided to send the victim for a medical test.
“According to the complaint, Alam had asked the woman to meet him at an isolated place on August 14. When she reached there, the accused and three of his friends allegedly gang-raped her,” said a police official.