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On Thursday, a gram sabha candidate made a serious allegation, claiming that she was physically assaulted and molested by All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers on 8 July during the Panchayat elections.
According to an official statement, the victim claimed that Trinamool members stripped her naked and paraded her through town on election day.
Naked parade claim in West Bengal
During the Panchayat elections on 8 July, a horrifying incident unfolded in Panchla, Howrah district, where a female candidate reported that she was brutally assaulted and sexually assaulted by around 40 TMC thugs. They stripped her naked, paraded her through her town, and abused her in public.
The alleged incident took place in Dakshin Panchla, under the Panchla police station in Howrah district.
The victim stated, "They dragged me outside the polling booth, holding my hair, and threw me down the stairs. They also tore my clothes. Fortunately, my husband was present and protected me. I filed an FIR for this incident." However, the West Bengal DGP has stated that evidence indicates no such incident occurred.
"On the polling day (8 July 2023), while the voting was ongoing, the TMC candidate of the same Gram Sabha named Hemanta Roy, and few other TMC supported anti-social elements named Alfi Sk., Sukamal Panja, Ranabir Panja, Sanju Das, Noor Alam and about 40-50 other miscreants physically assaulted me at the polling station. They hit me on my chest, and head with sticks and pushed me out of the polling booth," read the FIR.
An FIR was filed, but BJP leader Amit Malviya says police were hesitant to do so until the protests took place. Unfortunately, such acts of violence have become eerily common in the Bengal political landscape, with previous cases of women being humiliated and assaulted for their affiliation with opposition parties.
DGP: No evidence for molestation
West Bengal's Director General of Police (DGP), Manoj Malviya, stated that a complaint of molestation was received on July 13, leading to the registration of an FIR. However, as of now, no evidence has been found to support the woman's claims that she was stripped and paraded in the village.
During a press conference, the Director General of Police (DGP) stated that a woman had filed a complaint via email. According to her, on July 8 around 11 am, she was forcibly removed from a polling booth, molested, and subjected to a naked parade. However, prior to July 13, no such complaint had been received. Upon receipt of the complaint, the police promptly initiated an investigation and lodged a First Information Report (FIR). After conducting a thorough inquiry, no evidence was found to support the occurrence of the alleged incident on that specific day.
Malviya said, "Central forces personnel deployed at polling booths on the day of the election. Additionally, the state police force deployed in all polling booth areas. A large number of people were also present outside booths. After inquiring and questioning many people, we found no evidence that such an incident took place. There was no video footage of the incident. Even Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari recently visited the area. He did not raise this complaint. The BJP’s fact-finding team also recently visited the area. They also did not send any such complaint to us. We also did not receive any complaint from the central force, who was on duty, regarding this incident."
DGP on investigation
The DGP said, "We sent text messages to the mobile numbers of the woman and her husband to record their statement under Section 164 of CrPC. We informed them that we will take them to court to record their statement before a magistrate. However, they have not responded to this. We also instructed them to provide the medical report if they visited any hospital for treatment. But they also did not send any such report."
Malviya examined the CCTV footage from around the polling booths and did not find any evidence. The DGP added that they have also requested the CCTV footage inside the polling booth and they will examine it once they receive it. The DGP also stated that they wanted to clarify the matter as misleading news had been circulating about this alleged incident for the past few days.
TMC candidate accused, evidence shared
The BJP leader tweeted, "Mamata Banerjee, do you have any shame at all? On 8th Jul 2023, during the Panchayat poll, the police wasn't even taking an FIR till the BJP forced it down. In Howrah, a Gram Sabha candidate, a woman, was beaten, stripped naked, and paraded."
Malviya shared a copy of the complaint letter and FIR in another tweet and said, "TMC candidate and his henchmen stripped the victim inside a polling booth on July 8, 2023. The complaint names the perpetrators. Mamata Banerjee's dead conscience has finally surfaced and she is feeling ashamed for a change. She should take moral responsibility for this depravity and step down immediately, before your conscience goes back to the grave."
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