The son of a local TMC leader has been arrested as an accused in the rape of a three-year-old girl child in the Gazol Police Station area of West Bengal’s Malda district. The crime took place on October 23 and ever since the victim’s family filed a complaint against the son of Boltu Roy, a TMC leader from Bhaktipur, they are being forced to withdraw the case.

A death threat has been issued to girl’s father. To harass them till they withdraw the complaint, their drinking water source has been cut and they are not being allowed to take drinking water even from the village tap.

The police have detained the accused on the complaint of the child’s father; as the accused is also a minor, he has been held at the Juvenile Home. 

The victim’s family is practically under house arrest due to death threats and intimidation if they step out of their house. “We are being pressured to drop the rape case,” claimed the child’s mother. “They are also threatening to kill my husband. They are getting this audacity as they are well-connected with the TMC. We are very scared. “

The family was forced to approach the district Police Superintendent for their safety. “I have received a complaint from the family of that child. Those are some serious allegations. This matter will be investigated thoroughly. The police officers of Gazol police station have also been duly instructed in this regard,” said Malda District Superintendent of Police Alok Rajoria.

The local BJP unit has come forward in support of the victim, and demanded strict punishment for the culprit and his family.

Gobind Chandra Mandal, the BJP president of Malda district said, “It is a good thing that the culprit has been arrested after the incident. But the repercussions (for the girl’s family) after the arrest is more agonizing.”

He recalled how the CPM had shut down the lives of opposition members during its 34-year rule, and now the TMC is emulating its predecessor. “During CPM times the members of the opposition could not go for laundry or go to the market. The TMC has proved to be its worthy successor. The boy who has committed such a heinous crime belongs to a Trinamool Congress household. His family has imposed a boycott of the victim’s family in the area with the courage they get from the TMC. They don’t let them take water and have forced them to a status of house arrest. As if the era of CPM is back. People will not forgive them,” added the BJP district president. 

However, the Trinamool state secretary and former minister Krishnendunarayan Chowdhury tried to rubbish the allegations asserting that crimes like child abuse, harassing the family to withdraw the case or imposing a social boycott on them ‘cannot happen’ under the rule of Mamata Banerjee. “We have appealed to the administration to immediately arrest the accused and provide appropriate punishment,” said Chowdhury. 

Contrary to Chowdhury’s claims, the cases of rapes and violence on women and children have been on an all-time rise under the Chief Ministership of the Trinamool Congress matriarch.

In another similar case, the body of a 6-year-old was recovered from the Ganges in the Farakka Maheshpur area in Murshidabad, on Saturday, November 27. The family of the victim have accused one Fitu Sheikh, who is a resident of the East Shibtala area in ​​Farakka. Sheikh had left for Haryana on Saturday night; Farakka Police travelled to Haryana to detain the accused. He was then produced at the Jangipur Court and the case is under investigation.