On Thursday (27th June), a Muslim woman was stripped, dragged for 1 km by her hair and thrashed for over an hour by goons for supporting the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP).
The incident took place in Ruidanga village in Matha Bhanga-II block in Coochbehar district of West Bengal. The victim is currently undergoing treatment at the Maharaja Jitendra Narayan Medical College & Hospital.
As per reports, a group of TMC goons attacked the woman for being a worker of the Opposition BJP in the State. The victim’s father has now filed a complaint with the police.
According to the police complaint, the local TMC cadre has prevented the woman from stepping out of her house since the Lok Sabha elections were announced on 4th June 2024.
The victim was attacked on Thursday when she was en route home from a nearby park. A group of TMC goons attacked her, stripped her and then dumped her clothes in a river.
They have also threatened to break her house if she dared to step out again. The Cooch Behar police have so far detained 4 people, including the primary accused Shafiqul, in connection to the case.
Shafiqul is accused of capturing the naked picture of the victim during the assault and disseminating it on social media platforms.
In a horrifying display of political violence, Rosonara Khatun, a BJP Minority Morcha member, was savagely beaten in Coochbehar, West Bengal.
— BJP West Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) June 27, 2024
Dragged by her hair and assaulted at Ramthenga Market, her crime was supporting the BJP.
This barbaric act has outraged the Muslim… pic.twitter.com/CuiPHGTxBM
In a tweet, the official X (formerly Twitter) handle of ‘BJP West Bengal’ posted, “In a horrifying display of political violence, Rosonara Khatun, a BJP Minority Morcha member, was savagely beaten in Coochbehar, West Bengal.”
“Dragged by her hair and assaulted at Ramthenga Market, her crime was supporting the BJP. This barbaric act has outraged the Muslim community, and the safety of women and political dissenters is under grave threat,” it added.
“This is Mamata’s Bengal: where violence silences opposition,” the saffron party added.
A Muslim woman was stripped and beaten in West Bengal’s Coochbehar, for supporting the BJP. The incident took place at Ramthenga Market in the Mathabhanga Assembly of Coochbehar district. Rosonara Khatun, a member of the BJP's Minority Morcha, was dragged by her hair and… pic.twitter.com/tgcv6D815l
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) June 27, 2024
“There is a #Sandeshkhali in every village of Bengal. The incident has sparked widespread outrage and calls for justice. Concerns over political violence and safety of women under Mamata Banerjee remains a huge concern,” BJP’s national spokesperson Amit Malviya condemned the incident.
Turmoil in Sandeshkhali
The unrest in Sandeshkhali village in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal brought into focus the atrocities committed against women by former Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his aides Shibu Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar.
Multiple women have come forward to narrate instances of land grabbing, and sexual violence perpetrated against them by the trio. Forced by circumstances, they took matters into their own hands and gheraoed the police station.
The agitation led by women eventually led to the arrest of the 3 TMC goons. OpIndia had previously reported how the Trinamool Congress, led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, have left no stone unturned to trivialise the sexual violence committed against women in Sandeshkhali.
Besides Mamata Banerjee, TMC MLA Udayan Guha also attempted to downplay the sexual exploitation of women in Sandeshkhali as ‘eating pie (Pitha khaowa)’ and ‘mischief (Dushtami)’ on 29th February.
TMC spokesperson Jui Biswas also sought to deny sexual violence in Sandeshkhali by demanding ‘video footage of rapes’ as proof. Journalist’ Sagarika Ghose, who was recently rewarded with a Rajya Sabha seat by the TMC, also trivialised the raging unrest in Sandeshkhali village as a ‘local land dispute.’
TMC Minister Partha Bhowmick had earlier tried to dismiss accusations of sexual violence by women of Sandeshkhali village as ‘fake.’ On 10th March, the actress turned TMC candidate from Hooghly, Rachna Banerjee, was seen casting aspersions on the sexual violence faced by women in Sandeshkhali.
