According to police sources, the woman was alone at her home on Sunday night when Mullick, Rana and three others barged into her house, tied her hands and legs before allegedly raping her. Six men, including two Trinamool Congress workers, allegedly gangraped a 34-year-old woman in her house in Howrah district late Saturday night. The woman is said to be the wife of a local BJP worker.
Two of the six accused have been arrested. They have been identified as Sheikh Saiyed and Joynal Mullick. Trinamool block president Kutbuddin Mallick and local unit youth president Debashis Rana are among the accused. The two others named in the FIR are Rahamat Ali, Mahabul Mullick.
According to police sources, the woman was alone at her home on Sunday night when Mullick, Rana and three others barged into her house, tied her hands and legs before allegedly raping her.
“The woman couldn’t raise an alarm since she had suffered a cerebral attack recently and has difficulty in speaking,” a senior police officer said.
Her husband was away for work at the same time, police said.
The next morning, the family took her to Uluberia Sub-Divisional Hospital where she is undergoing treatment.
The incident took a political turn with the BJP accusing the TMC government of resorting to rape to silence the opposition in West Bengal.
“Police initially refused to even file her complaint and wanted to dilute the case. The TMC is using rape as a political tool to silence opponents,” BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya tweeted.
“The medical was not done till Monday afternoon. Imagine the condition of the state where a woman gives in writing that she has been raped but the doctor initially didn’t want to do the medical. Later he did, but under pressure, he said the injuries were not of rape,” BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul alleged.
The TMC said it is with the victim’s family and demanded punishment for the culprits.
TMC Howrah district president Pulak Roy said that criminals have no caste, religion, or race.
“All criminals are punished in our state. We are with the family and we demand that all culprits are punished,” Roy, the state public health engineering minister, said. Sukanta Kumar Paul, the TMC’s MLA of Amta, and other leaders of the party visited the victim at the hospital.
TMC minister Arup Roy said, “If such an incident happened, it is unfortunate. The law will take its own course.”
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