On Monday (12th February), the West Bengal police informed that it has formed a 10-member team to probe the sexual violence against women in Sandeshkhali village in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
During a press conference, the cops informed that the team would be headed by a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) rank female IPS officer. They further added that the investigation would commence from Tuesday (13th February) onwards.
Ironically, the same police force has been accused by women residents of Sandeshkhali of aiding Trinamool Congress goons and remaining a mute spectator to the harassment meted out by them.
#Breaking: #WestBengal Police constitutes a 10-member team to be headed by a DIG rank female IPS officer to look into the allegations of sexual assault of women in Sandeshkhali. The said team will begin groundwork from tomorrow & will go around collecting complaints from women in… pic.twitter.com/XD5GgZD02e
— Pooja Mehta (@pooja_news) February 12, 2024
Cops working in cahoots with TMC goons: Sandeshkhali women
OpIndia had compiled 12 videos where victims narrated the ordeal faced by them. One woman informed that the Block Development Officer (BDO) and the local police are working hands-in-gloves with the TMC party cadre.
Horror of #Sandeshkhali
— Dilip Ghosh (@DilipGhoshBJP) February 6, 2024
TMC rule has created a system has made people of all ranks waiting for corruption. If common people protest, they were beaten with spades. Hear the dire situation from the residents.
Video Courtesy #TV9Bangla pic.twitter.com/FWu7jClLmp
According to Republic Bangla, the police accompanied the Trinamool Congress workers and harassed the women protesting against party goons Sheikh Shahjahan, Uttam Sardar and Shibo Prasad Hazra.
“We could not sleep a wink since a large contingent of police came here with bikes and cars. The sound of their approaching footsteps and loud talks terrorised us throughout the night. The men in our families could not stay the night due to their fear,” a woman narrated her ordeal.
Sandeshkhali horror
— ᴅᴇʙᴀᴊɪᴛ ꜱᴀʀᴋᴀʀ🇮🇳 (@debajits3110) February 11, 2024
Just listen to what this Hindu woman is saying. Police and some unidentified people are roaming around Sandeshkhali all night.#Sandeshkhali Section 144 has been issued and internet suspended.Kolkata Police is sending legal notices to those who are posting… pic.twitter.com/IiQLkgna3x
“Police came to our house at 3 am. They abused my husband and tried to molest me. They even broke my Pola (red bangle married Bengali Hindu women wear). The police threw away my daughter. Policemen were so drunk that they were unable to stand,” the wife of a local BJP worker Bhujang Das informed.
"Police came to our house at 3am. They abused my husband and tried to molest me. They even broke my Pola (red bangle married Bengali Hindu women wear). Police threw away my daughter. Policemen were so drunk that they were unable to stand."
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) February 10, 2024
– Wife of BJP worker Bhujang Das pic.twitter.com/arHC9k7Szr
Other residents of Sandeshkhali recounted the ill-treatment by the local cops. One woman was heard saying, “The police asked me if I sleep with other men? How could they ask me this? I need an answer. What wrong have I committed to be insulted with abuses like mother f*cker?”
“The police abused my husband as a ‘son of a pig.’ He was pulled out of the house. What crime did he commit? We need justice. Can the police personnel abuse someone like this?” she continued.
Mamata Banerjee is using WB Police to quell dissent in Sandeshkhali, Basirhat. BJP workers are being targeted.
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) February 10, 2024
Last night, police barged into homes of people, abused and threatened the women of the house… Listen.
“Do you sleep with other men? Come out of the house, you son of… pic.twitter.com/k49zQV9CMH
One woman told Republic Bangla, “They (TMC goons) broke open my window. They pulled my hand and asked me to come out of the house. They told me that they would gang-rape me. All of this happened in the presence of the police.”
“There are other women whose hair and saree have been pulled. We are not safe here (in Sandeshkhali). They have misbehaved with me in front of my husband. We want peace. I feel that it is better to die instead of being humiliated in this manner, ” the victim added.
#Tolamul goons pulled her hand from outside and told her they will gang rape her in presence of #Tolamul Police.
— Tolamul Monitor (@TMCWatch) February 11, 2024
This is the conditions of Sandeshkhali women for years now.
pic.twitter.com/napp1tDwez
Sandeshkhali women seek justice from West Bengal Governor
On Monday (12th February), local residents of Sandeshkhali village sought justice from West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose and demanded strict punishment against Trinamool Congress goons.
“While you are here, we can speak up, but once you leave, the situation returns to what it was. They will continue to oppress us. Do something so that they are arrested. We demand severe punishment; we want justice,” a woman told the West Bengal Governor.
Ananda Bose assured the villagers that strict action would be taken against the guilty.
VIDEO | Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose met the victims of the alleged systematic sexual assaults carried out on women in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali village. pic.twitter.com/ARCtGmerGq
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 12, 2024
Violence in Sandeshkhali
Hundreds of women residents of Sandeshkhali took to the streets on Thursday (8th February) with brooms, sticks, and farming tools, and blocked the roads. They demanded the immediate arrest of TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his two aides Shiba Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar.
The women had accused the trio of making their lives miserable for quite some time. The tension intensified on Friday (9th February) after angry villagers, led by women, in and around the Sandeshkhali area of North 24 Parganas, attacked the properties of Sheikh Shahjahan including a poultry farm owned by Shahjahan’s close confidant and Trinamool Congress leader Shibu Hazra.
The locals said that the poultry farm was set up on a plot of land that the Trinamool Congress leader had forcefully usurped. They also said that the poultry farm had developed into a centre for several illicit operations.
Locals also stated several other instances where Sheikh Shahjahan and his aides had forcefully grabbed lands from poor villagers.
On Saturday (10th February), the local police imposed Section 144 in various areas in Sandeshkhali and also banned the use of the internet in 16 panchayats scattered over the two blocks of Sandeshkhali-I and Sandeshkhali-II.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Archana Majumdar has said that TMC members and the local police “jointly raided” the houses of protesting women and BJP workers. Majumdar said that the police even arrested and tortured them.
In a bid to pacify the angry villagers of Sandeshkhali, the TMC leadership suspended Uttam Sardar from the party for six years. The suspended TMC leader and Zilla Parishad member was subsequently arrested in the Sandeshkhali police station area.
In the meantime, the Mamata Banerjee-led-TMC government arrested a former CPI(M) MLA named Nirpada Sardar in connection to the case on Sunday (11th February).
The Communist party leader was taken from his residence in Tollygunge to the Babsdroni police station. Thereafter, he was transferred to the Basirhat police station in North 24 Parganas district.
Nirpada Sarkar was arrested under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 120 B, 147, 148, 149, 379, 427,435, and 436. The family of the CPIM MLA, who won from the Sandeshkhali constituency in 2011, said that the arrest of Nirapada Sardar was made without any prior notice.
