"They want to reveal everything": Priyanka Tibrewal after Calcutta HC orders her to represent Sandeshkhali women victims
Mar 09, 2024
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], March 9 : The Calcutta High Court ordered petitioner in person Priyanka Tibrewal to represent the women victims of Sandeshkhali by bringing their complaints on record in the form of a supplementary affidavit in her PIL that has been filed on Sandeshkhali.
A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Thursday allowed 80 women from Sandeshkhali to share their grievances by filing applications or affidavits through a woman advocate. The order was issued by a division bench led by Calcutta High Court Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam.
Priyanka Tibrewal who is the West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Secretary said that the women victims in Sandeshkhali want to share the atrocities committed against them before the Calcutta High Court.
"There is a PIL that I filed before the Honourable Chief Justive of Calcutta High Court and the Calcutta High Court heard the matter the day before yesterday, where I mentioned that these victim women from Sandeshkhali have come to Barasat to meet the Prime Minister. They met me and they want to reveal whatever they have gone through in Sandeshkhali and who are the people who committed these crimes. They also want to bring these facts before the Honourable High Court," Tibrewal said speaking to ANI on Saturday.
Tibrewal maintained that it is important for people to know about how these women victims were tortured as the West Bengal government had tried to downplay the entire incident.
"So I approached the court and asked if I could place everything on record. So the Honourable High Court has granted me permission to bring the complaints of these women before the court through an application or my supplementary affidavit in my PIL which I will be proceeding with. Everybody should know what has gone wrong with them. This government has still maintained that nothing has happened and they are quiet over the issue," Tibrewal said.
In response to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's claim that women in her state are the safest in the country, the BJP leader said, "Mamata Banerjee was saying the same thing during the post-poll violence and she is saying the same thing now. We had proved then that violence did take place and now we will prove whatever has gone wrong in Sandeshkhali. Whatever has gone wrong is because of her complicit nature along with goons like Shahjahan."
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday conducted a search at the residence of suspended Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Shahjahan in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, in connection with the Sandehskhali case, in which four officials from the Directorate of Enforcement came under attack while raiding the residence of the leader at Sandeshkhali village in the district.
Earlier on Wednesday, following the Calcutta High Court's directive, the Crime Investigation Department handed over custody of Sheikh Shahjahan to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
After weeks of no action, on February 29, TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan was arrested by West Bengal police, after which West Bengal's Basirhat Court remanded him to 10-day police custody. He is also a key accused in the Sandeshkhali extortion, land grab, and sexual assault cases.
Sandeshkhali in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district had been witnessing widespread protests against Shahjahan Sheikh this month as a section of women were seeking justice against alleged atrocities committed by the TMC leader. A large number of women in Sandeshkhali had accused Shajahan Sheikh and his close aides of "land-grab and sexual assault" under coercion.