West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had yesterday announced to a packed auditorium that the 14-year-old minor girl who was allegedly raped and killed by a TMC leader’s son in Nadia’s Hanskhali, ‘had a love affair and nobody knows if she was pregnant.’
Speaking at the inauguration of the revamped Milan Mela, a permanent fair-ground opposite the Science City at the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in Kolkata on the afternoon of April 11, Monday, the CM indulged in victim shaming, by indirectly slandering the character of a 14-year-old girl who is no more.
In order to downplay the allegations of rape, the Bengal CM stated, “As a layman, I am saying where would someone get the evidence whether she was actually raped or was she pregnant or was there any other reason, like someone beat her up or she died of some illness. There was a love affair for sure, her family knew about it, and their neighbours also knew about it. Now if a girl and a boy love each other, I cannot punish them”, said the WB Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. “This is not Uttar Pradesh that I can do that in the name of Love Jihad”, said the West Bengal Chief Minister.
* Class 9 girl dies in Nadia, #Bengal.
— Abhijit Majumder (@abhijitmajumder) April 11, 2022
* Mother alleges gangrape by TMC leader’s son and his friends.
* Cops cremate girl in a hurry.
* CM Mamata Banerjee asks: “She had love affair with accused, so was it rape? Was she pregnant? Did she die of a slap?”pic.twitter.com/uDmL4HbcXh
Mentioning the ‘love affair’ multiple times, she even turned around once to ask one of her aides,” Is it not a fact? Everyone is saying that she had a love affair with that boy.”
Even though the investigation is underway and at present, the allegation of rape made by the victim’s family is yet to be proven, it is shocking that the CM of the state, instead of sympathising with the minor victim, makes such remarks about the alleged love affair, almost to the point of slandering the minor girl’s character and downplaying the incident. Also, a sexual relationship with a minor is statutory rape as per Indian law and is punishable under harsh provisions of the POCSO Act.
Mamata Banerjee had taken a protest march for Hathras victim
Ironically, the Bengal CM had taken the Hathras incident, where a young girl was found strangulated and rape was alleged by the family in their later statement, very seriously. She had given multiple statements over the condition of law and order in UP and had even taken out a protest march in Kolkata demanding justice for the Hathras victim.
West Bengal: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee participates in the protest march being held from Birla Planetarium to Gandhi Murti in Kolkata over Hathras incident. pic.twitter.com/OWkjwtNbSM
— ANI (@ANI) October 3, 2020
Speaking at the rally, Mamata Banerjee had also stated that she felt like going to Hathras and meeting the victim’s family. She had also slammed PM Modi over the Hathras case in 2021, saying, “PM Modi knows very well that there is no rule of law in UP. How many commissions has he sent there? So many incidents, from Hathras to Unnao, have taken place. Even journalists are not spared. They give a bad name to Bengal. Maximum violence was pre-poll.”
It is a sad irony that a 14-year-old victim girl who died gets only shaming and apathy from her own state’s CM, while the same CM reserves her outrage and political power for victims in Uttar Pradesh.
