Kolkata:
The rape of a law student at a Kolkata college has brought infighting in the ruling Trinamool Congress out in the open as party leaders take potshots at each other. As the party distanced itself from MP Kalyan Banerjee’s and MLA Madan Mitra’s controversial remarks, MP Mahua Moitra has termed the statements “disgusting” and said Trinamool differs from other parties in calling out such statements, irrespective of who makes them.
Mr Banerjee has shot back with a personal attack, saying that Ms Moitra has returned after her honeymoon and launched an attack on him. He also accused her of “breaking a family”, a nasty remark referring to Ms Moitra’s wedding with former BJD MP Pinaki Misra last month.
This comes months after a public spat between Trinamool MPs in Delhi and the party leadership won’t be happy with this at a time it is gearing up for the Assembly polls in West Bengal next year.
A 24-year-old law student was raped in the college’s union room on June 25. Main accused Manojit Mishra, 31, is a college alumnus and the other accused Promit Mukherjee and Zaid Ahmed are believed to be current students. All three have been arrested. It is alleged that Manojit raped the student, while the other two shot videos to blackmail her later. The college’s guard has also been arrested. Manojit Mishra is part of the Trinamool’s youth wing, but the party has insisted that this won’t protect him from the harshest punishment.
Soon after the matter came to light, Serampore MP Kalyan Banerjee made a controversial remark that many flagged as victim-blaming. “If a friend rapes a friend, how can you ensure security? Will there be police in schools? This was done by students to another student. Who will protect her (victim)?”
Another problematic statement came from party MLA Madan Mitra. “This incident has sent a message to girls that if someone calls you when the college is closed, don’t go; nothing good will come of it. If that girl had not gone there, this incident wouldn’t have happened,” he said.
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