'Take RESPONSIBILITY': TMC tells Amit Shah on woman's alleged gangrape by BSF jawans

A TMC delegation visited the spot where the gangrape incident took place on Sunday. Bengal's ruling TMC has slammed the Centre's silence over the issue.

Kolkata: West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress has demanded that Union Home Minister Amit Shah should take responsibility for the gangrape of a woman allegedly by two BSF personnel in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district. After visiting the spot where the incident took place along with others on Sunday, senior TMC leader and minister Dr Shashi Panja also wondered why Shah has remained silent over it.

An assistant sub-inspector and a constable of the BSF were arrested late on the night of August 26 on the charge of raping the woman near the Bagda border outpost in North 24 Parganas district. They were suspended and handed over to the state police for further legal action.

“The incident of sexual atrocity (was) committed by the BSF on a lady in front of her minor child. We condemn this incident and we ask the Union home minister to take responsibility for this,” Panja said in a video statement which was shared on the TMC's official Twitter handle.

The BSF, which ordered a court of enquiry against the two accused, functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

“The Union home minister has continued to maintain silence on this incident. He does take credit for the central armed forces. Then why is he not speaking against or condemning the incident? We demand an apology, we demand a thorough inquiry into this,” Panja said.

Today, the @AITCofficial delegation visited the spot at Bagda where the ghastly incident took place.

We condemn this atrocity! We ask Home Minister Mr @AmitShah to take responsibility. We demand a thorough investigation - @DrShashiPanja pic.twitter.com/iLcYYP4b74 — All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) August 28, 2022

Panja, the minister of women and child development, also met the district magistrate and inquired about the condition of the victim who was “raped” when she was allegedly trying to illegally enter Bangladesh from the West Bengal side. "We could not meet her as she has left for her home in Basirhat (sub-division) with her child after discharge from a hospital. We heard that she is stable now though her child is under trauma,” she said.

Panja said that the four-member TMC delegation interacted with people who live near the border area. "We saw that parts of the border are not properly fenced. We also talked to the locals and heard about their daily experiences which we will communicate to the top party leadership in our report," she said.

Referring to the incident, the TMC had attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his Independence Day speech in which he urged people to pledge not to do anything that lowers the dignity of women. Besides Panja, Naihati MLA Partha Bhowmick, Barasat MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and state spokesperson Kunal Ghosh were members of the delegation that visited Bagda.