The four-member BJP fact finding team that on Monday visited Kolkata to inquire into the South Calcutta Law College rape case slammed Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for allowing a States — sponsored crime racket by letting “history-sheeters” to take control of her party Trinamool Congress.
“It is very sad to note the women are most unsafe in a State that is run by a woman Chief Minister,” senior BJP leader and Union Minister Satpal Singh said after he and his team members met Kolkata Commissioner of Police
Manoj Verma and Nayana Chattopadhyay the Vice Principal of the said law College.
The team comprising Singh, senior BJP leaders including former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb, Meenakshi Lekhi and Manan Kumar Mishra told media men after inspecting the site how in a catena of cases related to sexual crime against women the State police refuse to write FIRs defying the Supreme Court guidelines.
Questioning how history sheeters could be appointed in a government aided college, Singh said, “we have been told that the main perpetrator of the crime in this case is a law graduate from this place and is a history-sheeter who has at least four grave charges against him, he is known to have molested women earlier too, despite such charges he was given appointment by the Governing body of this college, a governing body that is chaired by a TMC MLA, this speaks volumes of how Bengal has become a victim of state-sponsored crimes.”
The BJP leaders were referring to the prime accused Manojit Mishra a Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad leader and a practicing advocate who was appointed on a temporary basis by the college governing body regardless of his criminal background.
The former Tripura Chief Minister alleged that there were numerous such instances of rapes and other crimes against women going unreported as the police would not register FIRs.
“We can give you a long list of victims of sexual crimes in Bengal, where many of these women have been a victim of the TMC leaders, I recently went to Cooch Behar where a woman was raped and had been hospitalised, but I found that the police had not registered any FIR in blatant defiance of the Supreme Court directive.”
Mishra who is also the Chairman of the Bar Council of India alleged how in most cases “as the TMC men are involved in the crimes against women the police refuse to register FIR and hush up the case, the report that we got this time is very disheartening and we will file the reports at appropriate level.”
Referring to their meeting with the Kolkata Commis-sioner of Police the BJP leaders said that “he has assured us that this time strong cases will be prepared against the accused so that they get the highest punishment.
Alleging that the Kolkata Police was not allowing the victim or her family to meet the outside world, Deb said that “we will try to meet the victim or her family, but we are not sure because the police have hidden her in some place and not letting anyone to meet her, this is the kind of democracy that Mamata Banerjee Government is practicing here.”
Earlier the National Commission for Women that had visited the site and demanded an action taken report from the Chief Secretary and Commissioner of Police too complained that the police were not cooperating in arranging a meeting with the victim.
“The Dy Commissioner says that she does not know about the whereabouts of the girl whereas it is her duty to ensure her safety … this proves what kind of pressure the family is in from the State Government and the TMC,” said Deb on Monday.
The TMC immediately hit back wondering the BJP leadership had forgotten Hathras or Unnao or they were aware of the crimes taking place against women in Manipur or Madhya Pradesh.
“In the law college case the police had taken action even before the world could know about this… the accused were arrested and investigation done … but does the BJP remember the incidents of Unnao or Hathras … they did not even allow the opposition leaders to visit Hathras … the
TMC delegation was stopped from visiting Hathras … at least here in Kolkata their fact finding team is going anywhere they want,” Bengal minister Dr Shahsi Panja said adding “in Manipur and Madhya Pradesh and other BJP ruled states reports on crime against women come in
frequent intervals but what the Government do there … has peace returned to Manipur,” Panja said.
Meanwhile, the members of BJP youth wing and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad on
Sunday protested throughout Bengal from Siliguri to Balurghat to Kolkata demanding justice for the law college victim.
Elsewhere before the forensic traces of the Kolkata law college victim had dried up another woman this time a Trinamool Congress leader was publicly molested at Birbhum in south- western Bengal.
The woman a TMC Panchayat Samity chairperson --- of Suri Block II samity --- was publicly molested by the members of rival group of the committee, she alleged adding her attackers even tried to strangle her with a scarf.
The opposite group however denied the charges and demanded visual evidence while Kajol Sheikh a senior district leader said his “party will look into the matter as TMC chief Mamata Banerjee never allows such unruly conduct.”