HANSKHALI RAPE : TEMPER OVER DIDI'S INTEMPERANCE

In a state where even minor mistakes by politicians are seized upon by adversaries and blown up as far as they would go, this was a misstep that invited condemnation. So much so that the shrill cries of castigation by the Opposition had to be tempered by critical voices from the party under attack.

- Romita Datta

The alleged gangrape and murder of a 14-year-old Class 9 student at Hanskhali, Nadia, around 100 km from Kolkata, on April 4, had sent shockwaves across the state. The girl had gone to attend the birthday party of the 21-year-old main accused, Brajagopal Gayali, alias Sohail, who was arrested after an FIR was filed on April 10. Sohail was the son of fgram panchayat member and local Trinamool Congress heavyweight Samar Gayali.

However, speaking at a state government event on April 11 in the presence of state police chief Manoj Malaviya, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee wondered if the incident could be called a rape. “I condemn the incident...but I heard there was a love affair between the boy and the girl. Was it an actual rape, love affair, a case of pregnancy or any other reason?”

As expected, Bengal's otherwise beleaguered Opposition trained their guns at the CM in a trice. BJP's Suvendu Adhikary, Leader of Opposition in the assembly, asked people to “rethink whom they've voted to power” Senior CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty called it “unfortunate” and Congress's Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury cuttingly remarked, “Does this victim not fall under the TMC's Maa, Mati, Manush governance?" All of them suspected the CM was trying to shield a party member from the law.

The Opposition's shows of denunciation at the outrage and the CM's reaction to it are one matter; many citizens are deeply dismayed by the turn of affairs. Not only has there been a string a of rape cases reported in Bengal in recent times, the accused in almost all of these are allegedly from the ruling TMC.