The Bengal Government has convened a special two-day Assembly Session on September 2 where it will get a stringent anti-rape law passed senior Bengal Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay on Thursday said.
“A Bill will be passed mandating capital punishment for a convicted rapist,” Chattopadhyay said. Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee too said that the Bill would be brought for discussion Monday and would be passed on Tuesday.
The State Cabinet had already cleared the tabling of the Bill inside sources said.
Earlier Chief Minister who was under tremendous pressure from the civil society and the citizenry for her Government’s alleged shoddy handling of the RG Kar medical College lady doctor rape and murder case told a Trinamool Congress students’ rally that her Government would convene a special session and bring a stringent anti-rape law with death sentence for the rape convicts.
“I wrote Prime Minister Narendra Modi for brining similar laws but the Centre brought some Sanhitas or things like that ... what use in bringing weak laws ... Now we will bring stringent laws giving death sentence to the rapists who are convicted ... we will also ensure fast track trial,” she said leading to a widespread criticism among the civil society members and the lawyers who said that there were already stringent laws in place.
“The only issue is implementation of such laws and the Government’s intention to act tough,” senior lawyers of Calcutta High Court said.
Meanwhile, reports came in from South Dinajpur of a minor girl being raped. “The girl was first raped and then murder was attempted, police sources said adding the accused had been arrested.
The girl is a Class V student at a school in Bangshihari village of South Dinajpur district in North Bengal. She was allegedly raped by a miscreant on Wednesday midnight, police said adding, “her parents were alerted by her screams ... when her mother went to her room someone pushed her aside and fled ... she is presently admitted in Gangarampur Super Specialty Hospital.” Her mother said the miscreant tried to kill her.
Meanwhile, the junior doctors protesting of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College Hospital put up a brave front daring Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday to take whatever action she wanted to take against them insisting they would in no condition withdraw their strike until justice was delivered to the victim lady doctor who was allegedly raped and murdered in the intervening night of August 8 and 9.
“The Chief Minister has indirectly threatened us with action ... or FIR or similar things ... but we are not scared because we are fighting with our back against the wall ... it is now or never ... we are fighting for justice for our dead colleague and we are determined to take that ... we are doing nothing illegal ... so no amount of pressure or threat from anyone including the Chief Minister will be shake us,” a striking doctor on Thursday said.
This even as the Chief Minister ate her words writing on the X handle that her words were being misinterpreted as she had never threatened the doctors but requested them to join work.
“Let me most emphatically clarify that I have not uttered a single word against the [medical etc.] students or their movements. I totally support their movement. Their movement is genuine. I never threatened them, as some people are accusing me of doing. This allegation is completely false,” Banerjee wrote.
Asking the doctors to withdraw cease work Banerjee had on Wednesday said that “the Supreme Court has given powers to the State Governments to take action ... but I am not registering any FIR as this might spoil the young doctors’ careers ... they may not get visa for studying abroad ... but I request them to join back duty as the continuous cease work is affecting the poor people the most.”
She also wrote that she had not incited the Trinamool Congress to attack the opposition workers saying she was only targeting the BJP and none else. “I have spoken against BJP. I have spoken against them because, with the support of the Government of India, they are threatening the democracy in our State and trying to create anarchy. With support from the Centre, they are trying to create lawlessness and I have raised my voice against them.”
Referring to the bandh called by the BJP and the Tuesday’s march by some rightwing students;’ groups to the State secretariat Nabanna demanding her resignation Banerjee had on Wednesday asked her party men to sometimes bark at the opposition if not bite them adding, “I don’t have to say what you need to do now.”
