“Bengal is not safe for women”: BJP’s Pradeep Bhandari slams TMC on Kolkata rape case

Kolkata: BJP National Spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari on Friday launched a scathing attack on the Trinamool Congress over the Kolkata alleged gangrape case and said that West Bengal is not safe for women under the Mamata Banerjee government.

“Mamata Banerjee’s government supports the rape of women in Bengal. The accused in the Kasba gangrape is an active member of Mamata Banerjee’s party, Trinamool Congress. Mamata Banerjee runs and protects an army of goons in Bengal for her appeasement politics and political dominance. People of Trinamool Congress commit rape against women, erase evidence and the TMC government makes a one-week case. A person of Trinamool Congress has been found guilty in the Kasba gang rape. Bengal is not safe for women. Despite Mamata Banerjee being a woman chief minister, her thinking is anti-women,” Bhandari told ANI.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has taken suo-motu cognisance of the alleged gangrape of a law student at South Calcutta Law College in Kolkata’s Kasba area on June 25, with NCW member Archana Majumdar expressing outrage over the incident.

Speaking to ANI, Majumdar said, “It’s shocking. As a mother, as a woman of West Bengal, I am very annoyed. We have taken suo-motu cognisance, we have asked DGP to answer within 72 hours in detail, including arrests, sections, crime scene examinations, medical examination, and everything…I will be meeting the victim today or tomorrow. I talked with the officer in charge of the concerned PS also. He reported that the victim has been sent to Calcutta National Medical College for medical examination. Three of the accused have been arrested already. Whatever action is being taken, my question is – why does it happen? Where is the security of women, of girl students?”

BJP leader Dilip Ghosh also echoed similar sentiments, stating, “Whenever a crime occurs in West Bengal, a TMC leader is found to be involved. The most evil and anti-social elements are in TMC. Holding the TMC flag seems to grant immunity from police action.”

He further criticised the state’s law and order situation, saying, “Such an incident happening with a college student in broad daylight shows the poor law and order in West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee has taken the entire police administration to the Rath Yatra in Digha, as if there are no other pressing issues in Bengal.”

On Wednesday evening, a female student was allegedly gang-raped inside a law college in Kolkata’s Kasba. The police have arrested all three accused within 24 hours.

The three accused, named as Monojit Mishra (31), Zaib Ahmed (19), and Pramit Mukhopadhyay (20), were former students or staff members of the same law college.

According to the police, the accused named in the FIR will be produced before the A.C.J.M. of Alipore, South 24 Parganas, with a prayer to remand them to Police Custody for a proper investigation into the case.

The alleged sexual assault took place between 7:30 pm and 10:50 pm on Wednesday within the law college premises. According to the official, one of the accused allegedly committed sexual assault, while the others were involved in the crime.

The victim’s family filed a police complaint against the accused, and the police have taken swift action in the matter.

Two of the accused, Monojit Mishra and Zaib Ahmed, were arrested on Thursday, near Siddhartha Shankar Roy Sishu Udyan, close to Talbagan Crossing in Kolkata. Pramit Mukhopadhyay was arrested later the same night at his residence. The police have seized the mobile phones of all three accused.

The official had visited the site and kept it under protection till they had done a forensic examination. They requested custody remand for further investigation.