West Bengal post-poll violence: Ravi Shankar Prasad alleges TMC worker attempted to rape SC woman, lashes out at Mamata Banerjee

Jun 17, 2024

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 17 : Ravi Shankar Prasad, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and a member of the four-member committee to probe the post-poll violence in West Bengal, lashed out at the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government on Monday alleging that an SC woman was raped by a TMC worker, and no FIR was lodged against him.
"The people of Cooch Behar were beaten. Women and children were mistreated. But the most disturbing incident is that a TMC worker attempted to rape a woman belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC). Her clothes were torn and was molested in the village. She even identified the TMC worker but even an FIR has not been lodged against the man. The woman told us everything. She was crying. We wouldn't like to reveal her identity", Prasad told reporters in West Bengal's Kolkata.
He pointed out that injustice was being done to a daughter under Mamata Banerjee's rule in West Bengal.
You (Mamata Banerjee) are a woman yourself and under your rule, injustice is being done to a daughter", Prasad told reporters in West Bengal's Kolkata.
The BJP's fact-finding committee arrived in Kolkata on Sunday to take stock of the situation following the post-poll violence in the state. The committee includes party MPs Biplab Kumar Deb, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Brij Lal and Kavita Patidar with Deb as its convener.
Incidents of post-poll violence poured in from several pockets of West Bengal where BJP workers were allegedly beaten and their offices were vandalised, after the declaration of Lok Sabha 2024 results.
Earlier today, the fact-finding committee of the BJP met the injured admitted at a hospital in Cooch Behar.

The BJP leaders were captured interacting with the injured.
In a post on 'X', Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote, "I met many injured people in Cooch Behar hospital, who were attacked by Trinamool supporters. The height of inhumanity was meted out to a Scheduled Caste worker, she was admitted to the hospital in an injured state and she told us about her condition while crying. For the dignity of her personality, we are not mentioning her name. Mamata ji, this is your government, will you feel some shame?"

The BJP leader further affirmed that the party would extend whatever support is needed.
"Whatever support has to be given by the party, it will definitely be given but Mamta ji what has happened to you! These are the deeds of your government and you are talking about the constitution!" he added.
The committee also held an interaction with the party workers at the Cooch Behar office.

"At the BJP office in Cooch Behar, I met a large number of male and female workers who were victims of the election violence due to the collusion of Trinamool Congress goons and the indifferent police. Many were beaten up, they were not able to go home due to fear and their parents were being threatened. Many women leaders were also mistreated, and all of them narrated their ordeal", he said.

Earlier on Sunday, West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari met Governor CV Ananda Bose at the Raj Bhavan along with the victims of post-poll violence in the state.
After meeting the Governor, Adhikari said that the Governor assured them that his doors are always open for all victims of post-poll violence till the situation normalises.
"We met Governor...he has told that doors are always open for victims till the post-poll violence ends...," Adhikari said speaking to reporters.
Earlier this month, West Bengal opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari had written to Governor CV Ananda Bose, raising concerns about the All India Trinamool Congress' alleged role in post-poll violence, urging him to take steps to prevent a recurrence of the situation after elections in 2024.
In a letter to the Governor of West Bengal, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said that after the 2024 Parliamentary General Election results were announced on June 4, "goons of the ruling dispensation" has gone "berserk upon the workers of BJP" in West Bengal.
"As has become synonymous now with the State of West Bengal, the goons of the ruling dispensation have gone berserk upon the workers of BJP after the declaration of results of the Parliamentary General Elections, 2024, which was announced on June 4, 2024," Adhikari said in the letter.
"This seems to be a repeat of the incidents that transpired after the declaration of the results of the 2021 assembly election results in Bengal, which had resulted in the death of several BJP karyakartas," he added.
Adhikari further alleged that the Central Armed Paramilitary Forces, stationed after the polls, are not being utilised to control the worsening situation where the ruling party's goons are targeting BJP workers.
In the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal, the TMC bagged 29 seats against BJP's 12 out of 42. The Congress secured one seat.