On October 25, two women were brutally tortured by three men in West Bengal for being lesbians. The incident took place in Sagardighi town in the Jangipur subdivision in the Murshidabad district of West Bengal.
As per reports, the perpetrators were identified as Sahebul Sheikh, Kadam Mollah and Saheb. Both Mollah and Sameer are said to be the relatives of the victim.
On the fateful night of October 25, the trio barged into the house of the victims at around 11 o’clock and questioned them for sleeping together on the same bed.
Know these 3 criminals : 1- Saheb Seikh 2 – Kadam Mollah 3 – Samjer Sk from Murshidabad district. They suspected 2 women of being lesbian & thus assaulted them,burnt their private areas with hot iron rod & attempted to rape them. 1 of them has been arrested. 2 are still at large. pic.twitter.com/0dcHOmTSAc
— Tamal Saha (@Tamal0401) November 9, 2022
They assaulted the two women and burnt their private parts with hot rods for being in a same-sex relationship. The perpetrators also attempted to strip and rape the victims and poured alcohol on their bodies. After unleashing their brutality, they tried to intimidate the women into silence by threatening to reveal their sexual orientation to the public.
After the assault, the two women were admitted to the Sagardighi Super Speciality Hospital in Murshidabad, and were released after a week,
A complaint was filed by one of the victim’s grandmothers with the Sagardighi Police Station on October 28. “My friend and I meet up every day and roll bidis, but I did not see her on October 25. Later in the night, she called me up and asked me to visit her. She was suffering from immense pain in her abdomen,” one of the victims narrated.
Perpetrators used the same-sex relationship troupe to exploit the victims: Police
The duo, one of whom later confessed to a same-sex relationship, informed that they decided to spend the night together. “We are in a relationship, no one restrained us. Had we been warned, we would not have pursued. Three of them molested us, touched us uncomfortably, and tried to rape us,” she said.
Reportedly, the two women are in their early 20s and hail from a family of impoverished farmers. Investigators believe that the three perpetrators used the pretext of lesbianism to sexually exploit them.
“It may be that there the actual motive was to rape the two innocent girls. In rural areas it becomes easier to exploit them if they are branded lesbians,” a cop informed.
The women were threatened not to speak out. After their condition deteriorated they were taken to hospital. Finally family mustered courage to lodge complaint on Oct 28. Complainant is 65 year old grandmother who wants to fight for justice. 1 accused is a relative of a victim
— Tamal Saha (@Tamal0401) November 9, 2022
One accused arrested so far
As per reports, the Malda police have so far nabbed Sahebul Sheikh in connection to the case. He was produced before the Murshidabad court on Monday (November 7) and remanded to 7 days in police custody.
SP (Jangipur) Bholanath Pandey said, “We arrested one of the three accused and search is on to arrest the rest.” Saheb and Kadam are still on the run from the law enforcement authorities.
