Amid the ongoing outrage rape and murder of a doctor at Kolakta’s RG Kar Medical College, a minor girl was sexual assaulted in North 24 Parganas district.
Protests erupted in the area after the incident came to light. The home of the minor girl’s accused abuser and his relative’s store in the area were vandalised by a protesting mob. Tensions escalated after the reports that a local leader of the Trinamool Congress allegedly asked the family of the victim to “settle the matter”. The accused was eventually arrested.
The Indian Express reported that the minor girl’s father as saying, “The accused is a resident of our village. I could not imagine that he could do such a thing. My daughter, who is nine years old, was coming to my shop from home. At that time he assaulted her. I demand exemplary punishment for him.”
The TMC leader whose alleged interference caused public outrage is the husband of a panchayat member. According to the panchayat member’s family, opposition CPM supporters from a neighbouring area carried out the attack.
Police and members of the Rapid Action Force were called to the scene, and tear gas was used to disperse the crowd as the mob also targeted the panchayat member’s residence.
In another incident, a nurse at a hospital in the Illambazar area of Birbhum district reported that a patient had inappropriately touched her during a regular treatment and had used abusive language when she confronted him. The patient was arrested, after she filed a police complaint.
