New Delhi:
Sister in law of a BJP candidate contesting the West Bengal panchayat election was allegedly raped by Trinamool Congress activists at Shantipur in Nadia district early on Sunday.
The victim who is a resident of Ghoralia Jopara village was reportedly pregnant at the time of the incident.
Bappa Sheikh, one of the five accused in the police complaint by the 23-year-old woman’s mother in law at the Shantipur police station, has been arrested.
The accused have been booked under sections 448, 376, 427, 379, 506 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
“However, we are yet to receive medical confirmation of the rape. An investigation is on,” said Santosh Pandey, Nadia superintendent of police.
As per the police complaint, the incident occurred around 2:10 am, after which the victim was taken to the NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
“It was a barbaric incident. Ruling party supporters assaulted and raped a woman closely related to one of our candidates. She has been admitted to the NRS Hospital in a critical state. I have brought the matter to the governor’s notice,” said Babul Supriyo, Union minister and Asansol parliamentarian.
However, the Trinamool Congress dismissed the charges. “The BJP is cooking up these allegations to malign us before the elections,” said Gourishankar Dutta, district president of the party.
“This is purely a family matter,” said Arindam Bhattacharya, a local Trinamool MLA.
“Following this, she and her husband decided to go away for a while. On the night of April 29, a group of men barged into our residence, ransacked it and trashed our handlooms. Another daughter-in-law who is six months’ pregnant was home at the time. The miscreants kicked her in the stomach before raping her,” the police complaint lodged by the victim’s mother in law stated, alleging that the BJP candidate was being threatened by Trinamool Congress activists ever after she filed her nomination.
