On April 26, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee claimed that the alleged ‘rape and murder case' in Kaliaganj town of Uttar Dinajpur was a ‘love affair’ gone wrong.
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The body of a 17-year-old Dalit girl was discovered in a canal in Kaliaganj on the morning of April 21.
In a viral video, the police were seen dragging the lifeless body of the victim along the ground.
The incident had drawn the ire of the locals in the area.
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While speaking about the incident, Mamata Banerjee claimed,
"Amader o dukho hoi… But amra Whatsapp total ta peyechi…Tader modhe ekta bhalobashar udyog o chilo "
#Translation: We feel bad about it….But we have seen Whatsapp messages… There was a love affair.
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Although the investigation is in a preliminary stage, Mamata Banerjee went out of her way to suggest that there was no foul play in the death of the Kaliaganj victim.
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This is not the first time that the West Bengal CM had suggested that allegations of rape committed in the State were either bitter love affairs or motivated by political vendetta.
Previously, she has accused victims of lying and staging rapes to defame her government.
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Recall the infamous Park Street Rape Case of 2012
Soon after the news surfaced, Mamata Banerjee dubbed the incident as ‘shajano ghotona‘ (concocted incident), which was allegedly ‘designed to malign the government.’
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TMC party leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar also went on to suggest that the rapists of the victim were her 'clients.'
economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-…
At the same time, the then WB Transport Minister questioned the victim’s character and called the complaint fake.
The five rapists were later identified as Kader Khan, Ali Khan, Ruman Khan, Naser Khan and Sumit Bajaj.
indianexpress.com/article/india/…
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During a debate in the West Bengal Vidhan Sabha in 2013 about the rising cases of rapes in the State, Mamata Banerjee had insinuated that it was due to the rise in population.
She also blamed the heinous crime on increase in modernisaion, shopping malls and multiplexes.
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In one rape case in Burdwan’s Katwa in 2012, Mamata Banerjee dismissed the allegations even before the investigation was concluded.
“Harmad-der diye natok shajachhe jatey Banglar naam kharap hochhe"
#Translation: They are staging an act to give a bad name to West Bengal.
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In April 2022, Mamata Banerjee again tried to downplay allegations of brutal rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl as a ‘love affair’ gone wrong.
The accused was identified as one Brajgopal, the son of Trinamool Congress (TMC) Gajna Gram Panchayat member Samar Gowla.
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“As a layman, I am saying where would someone get the evidence whether the girl was actually raped or pregnant. Or was there any other reason, like someone beat her up or she died of some illness?”
- Mamata Banerjee on April 11, 2022.
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“There was a love affair for sure, her family knew about it, and their neighbours also knew about it. Now if a girl and a boy love each other, I cannot punish them”, she had said back then.
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Her recent remarks about the alleged rape and murder case in Kaliaganj have now created a hullabaloo in West Bengal.
There is nothing surprising in it, given that Mamata Banerjee has been victim-blaming and downplaying allegations of rape for over a decade now.
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Read about the controversy in detail here:
opindia.com/2023/04/seen-w…
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