Two women, a 17-year-old and a 64-year-old, allegedly raped by supporters of the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, have moved the Supreme Court seeking to be impleaded in the plea filed for an SIT/CBI probe into the post-poll violence in West Bengal.
The minor, belonging to a Scheduled Caste community, has alleged that she was gang-raped, solely for her family’s political affiliations and for her religious beliefs.
The impleadment application of the 17-year-old narrates that, on May 9, at around 4 pm, while she and her school friend were returning home from her grandmother’s house located in the nearby village which is an hour’s journey, they were stopped on the way near Bagor Village by a group of four men who remarked “our party has won the elections, now let’s teach her a lesson” and dragged the minor and her friend into the nearby jungle. In the jungle, even while exhorting “Now we will teach you a lesson for supporting the BJP. Your families should know this is the outcome of opposing our leader Mamata Banerjee,” they assaulted her, raping her one by one, said the allegation.
The impleadment application of the 64-year-old says that on April 30, the applicant’s house was surrounded by a large mob of about 100-200 people, comprising the supporters of the TMC and loud threats were hurled at her asking her family to leave the house or else face consequences.
Despite the BJP having emerged victorious in the said assembly constituency (Khehjuri), workers of the ruling party in the State i.e. the Trinamool Congress got infuriated and started burning down houses of BJP supporters, hurling bombs and even inflicting physical torture and looting jewellery and other valuables. The applicant’s house was surrounded, it was alleged, as the mob threatened to bomb the house if the family members did not step out. Having no choice, the applicant and her family had to listen to the mob ad came out. The applicant’s daughter-in-law was mercilessly beaten, grievously injuring her. The mob left after threatening them that if the family reported the matter to the police, graver consequences would ensue. Fearing for her life, the applicant’s daughter-in-law left the house the very next morning.
The allegation also says that on May 4, at 12:30 am, five persons who were party workers of the Trinamool Congress came to the applicant’s house and forced their way in. At the time, the applicant was with her 6-year-old grandson. The applicant tried to resist, but she was overpowered. All the 5 accused namely Goutam Das, Usman alias Ara, Sukanta Kumar Das, Subrata Kumar Das raped her. The applicant was even poisoned which was obtained by Goutam Das who resided nearby. The chain of events occurred in the presence of the applicant’s six-year-old grandson.”
Both the above impleadment application has been filed in Biswajit Sarkar & Anr. Vs. Union Of India. On May 18, the Supreme Court had issued a notice in Biswajit Sarkar & Anr. Vs. Union Of India to the West Bengal government on a plea for CBI probe into the killing of two BJP workers allegedly by TMC workers during the post-poll violence in the state.
Biswajit Sarkar is the younger brother of the deceased Abhijit Sarkar, who was killed by a mob comprising 20 supporters of West Bengal’s ruling party in power in his mother’s presence and also by widow of Haran Adhikari, a local booth worker who was attacked with bricks, sticks, spade, shovel at his home and brutally killed in the presence of his 80-year-old father.
Moments before his death, Sarkar had uploaded a video on Facebook highlighting how the TMC workers not only ransacked his house and of the NGO, but also mercilessly killed voiceless puppies and specifically blamed TMC for his attack & his eventual death.
On May 2, soon after the results of the Assembly election were out, state BJP leaders alleged that many party workers were killed, raped, assaulted brutally and their houses were set on fire across the state. They accused TMC cadres of carrying out the attack and alleged that police are not doing anything to provide them protection. The Centre also sought a report from the West Bengal government on post-poll violence in the State.
Source: ILNS