In response to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s remark in a rape and murder case of a 14-year-old girl in Nadia district, the mother of Delhi gang-rape victim Nirbhaya has stated that Mamata Banerjee does not deserve to be a Chief Minister. Mamata Banerjee dismissed the rape allegations against the son of a TMC leader by saying that who knows whether it was rape or she was pregnant due to a love affair.
“She does not deserve the CM post if she is making such comments about a victim who has been violated,” Nirbhaya’s mother said. “Being a woman, if she is making such comments, it does not suit the post that she is holding,” she further added.
Mamata Banerjee downplayed the alleged rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl in Nadia’s Hanskhali village by a TMC leader’s son. On the afternoon of April 11, she spoke at the launch of the revamped Milan Mela, casting doubt on the rape aspect of the crime. She added that because everyone was aware of the girl’s love affair, one is left to wonder if it was a rape or a pregnancy gone bad.
She said in Bengali, “As a layman, I am saying where would someone get the evidence whether she was actually raped or was she pregnant or was there any other reason like someone beat her up or she died of some illness. There was a love affair for sure, her family knew about it, and their neighbours also knew about it. Now if a girl and a boy love each other, I cannot punish them.”
“This is not Uttar Pradesh that I can do that in the name of Love Jihad,” she further added. She went on to accuse the media of politicising the situation in order to defame the state.
Such words, as Nirbhaya’s mother said, encourage crimes like this, have an impact on victims, and encourage those who commit such crimes. Such politicians are just concerned about their vote banks. “There should be a proper investigation in the case and the guilty should be punished,” she said.
Hanskhali rape and murder case
The Son of a Trinamool Congress leader is accused of raping a young girl by inviting her to his birthday celebration. The girl died of severe bleeding, and her corpse was allegedly forcibly cremated by the accused. The incident happened on April 4th in the Shyamnagar region of Gajna gram panchayat in Nadia’s Hanskhali block number one.
Brajgopal, the accused, is the son of Gajna Gram Panchayat member Samar Gowla. The girl, a Bogula resident, was invited to Brajgopal’s home for his birthday party on April 4, where she was reportedly gang-raped by a group of people, and her body was forcibly cremated after she died while being treated in the hospital.
In addition, a Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Calcutta High Court, seeking a CBI investigation in the case.