Minor Girl & 60-Yr-Old Woman Move SC, Accuse TMC Workers of Rape

Both applicants have sought directions from the Supreme Court for transferring the trial outside the state.

A 60-year-old woman and a 17-year-old girl from West Bengal have approached the Supreme Court alleging that they had been raped by workers of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The minor, who belongs to a scheduled caste community, stated in her plea that she had been raped by four TMC workers on 9 May for over an hour and was told that it was a “lesson” for supporting BJP.

Recalling the horror, she added that the workers left her in a forest after the assault. The next day, she alleged that SK Bahadur, a TMC worker, came to her house and threatened her family against involving the authorities. He warned that he would burn their home, the Bar and Bench stated in its report.

The 60-year-old woman submitted that ruling party workers barged into her home on 4 May and brutalised, thrashed and gang-raped her in front of her six-year-old grandson. They also stole cash and valuables from her residence.

Medical examination undertaken at Kolkata’s Apollo Hospital reportedly indicated rape.

Further, she asserted that when her son-in-law approached the local police to register a complaint against the attackers, he was unable to do so. On the persistence of her daughter-in-law, a case was finally filed, Bar and Bench reported.

Contravention of Law, Perversity of Investigation

The applicant argued that the corruption of the ongoing probe can be demonstrated from the local police’s refusal to name four out of the five accused in the FIR, even though all five had been identified by the women.

The minor’s application also contends the unabashed breaching of law in the state, working towards the protection of the perpetrators of the crime.

Both applicants have sought directions from the apex court to transfer the trial outside the state, contending that interest of justice requires that the probe is carried out by a Special Investigation Team or an independent agency, Live Law reported.

The woman’s application was filed through counsel Arunima Dwivedi.

“While the history is replete with gruesome instances where rape was employed as a strategy to terrorise enemy civilian population and to demoralise enemy troops, but never have such cruel crimes been committed against a woman citizen for her or her family’s participation in the democratic process. Not merely the said crimes were facilitated by the inaction of the state authorities/police, but what was shocking is post crime humiliation that the rape survivors were subjected to, for their perceived audacity in reporting the crime. (sic)”

The woman’s application, as quoted by Bar and Bench

The pleas had been filed in a case instituted by Biswajit Sarkar, the brother of BJP worker Abhijit, who was killed allegedly by TMC supporters amid the post-poll violence in Bengal.