Bharatiya Janata Party women MLAs in West Bengal on Monday staged a protest on the Assembly premises over the assault on a couple in North Dinajpur and the alleged stripping and torture of a woman in Cooch Behar, party’s chief whip Sankar Ghosh said.
The BJP has called for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's resignation on July 1 over a “severe deterioration” in the State’s law and order after a video of a man flogging a couple in public in the State surfaced on social media.
In the North Dinajpur incident, Tajimul Islam, better known as ‘JCB’ among the locals, was arrested on Sunday for publicly whipping a man and a woman after a video of the incident surfaced on social media.
According to residents, he is a local TMC leader and he himself claims to be a powerful person. However, TMC leaders claimed that Tajimul holds no position in the party.
Police have registered a case based on the video of the incident happened on June 28 and managed to arrest Tajimul of Dighalgaon village in Lakhipur gram panchayat under the Uttar Dinajur district five days after the incident took place
According to the local political leaders of opposition parties, the accused is a Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporter and allegedly organises kangaroo courts in disputes of all kinds, ranging from property to extramarital affairs. Besides the physical assaults, he also imposes fines, they say.
“He is a TMC worker and close to the local MLA. He is called JCB because he demolished his opposition. Such is his terror among the common people his way of justice came to the light this time because of the video. Other such courts he had held went unreported,” said Surajit Das .The victim man and woman and their families (in the present incident) are too scared to lodge a police complaint,” said Sen.
“The entire Lakkhipur panchayat area is under his and his team’s control. He continues to rule the area through his political backing,” said Anarul Haq, CPM’s district president.
Trinamool MLA of Chopra Hamidul Islam said: “Police have taken action and we have condemned the incident.”
“Police promptly identified and arrested one person who had publicly assaulted a lady,” read a post from West Bengal Police on X. Islampur SP Joby Thomas K said, “The accused has been booked under relevant sections (of assault) and will be produced in a court tomorrow.”
Woman assaulted in Cooch Behar
The police on Sunday recorded the statement of a woman BJP worker, five days after she was assaulted allegedly by Trinamool Congress women activists. BJP’s Cooch Behar District Vice President Deepa Chakraborty and District General Secretary Biraj Bose accompanied the party worker to a women police station where her statement was recorded.
The development comes a day after BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul met the injured party worker and demanded a CBI probe into the matter. Paul also accused the police of delaying the process of recording the victim’s statement.
Meanwhile, member of National Commission for Women (NCW) Delina Khondup also met the victim on Sunday. She also met district police officers to learn the details of the investigation.
The NCW has already directed the state police to invoke relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code in the FIR filed in the case.
According to the complaint filed by the woman at the Ghoksadanga police station in Cooch Behar district’s Mathabhanga, she was surrounded by some women activists of the ruling Trinamool Congress on June 25. She alleged that she was stripped, beaten up and dragged for nearly a kilometre.
The police have arrested seven people in connection with the incident. “Out of the 10 accused, seven have been arrested. Search is on to arrest the three others. Today, the victim recorded her statement. Investigation is on,” said a senior police officer of Cooch Behar district.
However, earlier, Cooch Behar district police said in a press release that the incident happened because of a grudge within the woman’s family. “It has come to our attention that false rumours are being spread regarding an incident involving a Muslim woman in Cooch Behar, West Bengal. It is being falsely reported that the woman was stripped and beaten for supporting a political party. This misinformation is being used to give communal and political colours to a family dispute for vested interests,” it said.
Police even claimed that the victim’s mother and son had provided video statements saying the incident was “purely over a family fight among women over grass cutting,” and that no men were involved.
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