Rape victim’s kin to meet Bihar chief minister

Kolkata: After receiving a cold shoulder from the Bengal government, the relatives of the Madhyamgram gang-rape victim will meet Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday.

“We are leaving for Patna on Sunday and will meet the Bihar CM on Monday. Nitishji wanted us to come and tell him about our plight. We have no faith in this government,” the victim’s father said. The family will be back on Wednesday, a day before the Calcutta high court takes up their petition, demanding a CBI probe, for hearing on Thursday.

The victim’s father has already met Bengal Governor M K Narayanan and called on President Pranab Mukherjee in Delhi against the alleged police harassment they faced while taking out the victim’s body from hospital and cop torment they had faced the same night. Chief secretary Sanjay Mitra, however, rubbished the allegations the day after.

In the meantime, the victim’s family has shifted out of Dum Dum. “We have taken a room on rent at Burrabazar and will be staying there,” the father said. However, he admitted that the administration has posted two constables at the doorstep following the court directive to police.

Days before placing the government view in the high court over the CBI inquiry, top state officials, including namely home secretary Basudeb Banerjee, director general of police GMP Reddy, IG south Bengal and DIG (PR) Anand Kumar and along with senior CID officials, went to Doltala Police Lines in North 24-Parganas on Saturday to take stock of the state probe so far. The home secretary held a meeting for over an hour before they left for the state secretariat without saying a word. According to sources, they had come to firm up the state’s defence on the CBI inquiry.

Adding to the state’s unease, 21 organizations, led by some intellectuals such as Samir Aich and Miratun Nahar, took out a rally from College Square to Esplanade on Saturday over the rise in crime against women in the state. The rally from College Square to Esplanade flaunted a banner that displayed hit out at the government’s ‘unholy nexus with rapists’.

Taking a dig at minister Bratya Basu, who called them “professional mourners” (rudali), social activist Saswati Ghosh said: “We condemned the rape of Tapasi Malik and Radharani Ari. In the same breath, we condemn the Madhyamgram rape. If anyone calls us professionals, so be it.” Painter Samir Aich also criticized the minister’s comment.

Courtesy: TNN