West Bengal: Fissures in the TMC: Mamata – Mohua Take Opposite Stands on Rape Case
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, April 12: Some alleged insensitive remarks by the West Bengal chief minister and the ruling Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee in a rape case brought out fissures within the party with the party MP Mohua Moitra taking a diametrically opposite view and promising punishment for the accused despite being the son of a local TMC leader.
Moitra condemned the alleged rape which led to the death of the 14-year-old girl in West Bengal’s Nadia district, assuring the family that the “full extent of the law will be implemented” to punish the culprits. Her stern remarks come a day after Banerjee’s victim-blaming comments drew the ire of political parties and the locals. Banerjee had reportedly raised questions about the victim, “Was she raped? Was she pregnant or had a love affair?”
Moitra, known for her fiery and attacking speeches in Parliament, had been to the girl’s village and met her family. She assured the family members that the guilty would be punished irrespective of the fact that the accused was the son of a local TMC leader. “There is no word to describe the horrible incident. Parents are still in shock. I have assured the family that the full extent of the law would be implemented to bring the perpetrators to justice,” She told the media.
The police have done a good job so far, she said, lauding them for “showing promptness to arrest the accused.” Taking a diametrically opposite stand from her party’s chief, Moitra said it did not matter if the girl was in a relationship with the accused. “The boy is an adult and if he has had a sexual relationship with a minor, then that is rape according to the law and he will be prosecuted accordingly,” she said. Asked whether the political connections of the father of the accused in the ruling party will be a hindrance to justice, Moitra said the party would take every step to punish the accused. “There is no way he will be shielded,” she said.
The teen had gone to a birthday party when she was allegedly raped. She died on April 5. The victim’s family alleged that the body was cremated without an autopsy under pressure from the local TMC panchayat leader, whose son Braj Gopal Goala (21) is the prime accused in the case. A police complaint was lodged five days after the incident on April 10.
“On April 4, my daughter went to a birthday party on the invitation of Samar Goala’s son. They dropped my daughter off at 7:30 pm. I was not at home but my wife was there. She told me one woman and two men had come to drop her. We don’t know who they were. We only knew our daughter had gone to Samar Goala’s house for his son’s birthday party,” the girl’s father said.
“She was bleeding after returning from that party. In the early hours next morning, as her condition deteriorated, we went out looking for a doctor. By the time we came back, she had died. She was raped by Samar Goala’s son,” her father alleged. He, however, agreed that the girl and the boy were “in a relationship.”
“They took my daughter to that birthday party around 4 pm. Samar Goala’s son raped my daughter. Those who came to drop her that evening threatened to torch our house if we opened our mouths. That is why we didn’t say anything to anyone. But now I am demanding punishment,” the girl’s mother said.
