ALLEGATION: LEADER, KIN THREATEN FAMILY OF ‘RAPED’ MINOR

The son of a Trinamool leader and a minor accused in the incident has been arrested after raping a three-year-old child. However, the child’s family has been receiving threats to withdraw the rape case since then. It is alleged that the head of the family was also threatened with death. Even their drinking water has been virtually cordoned off in the area. The child’s family has lodged a complaint against a local Trinamool leader of Bhaktipur of Malda’s Gazol police station. The district Trinamool Congress leadership is uneasy about this incident. Though vocal in demanding punishment for the culprits, the BJP has levelled allegations against the Trinamool Congress.

According to local sources, a resident of Bhaktipur allegedly raped the child on 23 October against a minor in the village. The police arrested the minor on the basis of the complaint of the child’s family. For now, he has been sent to a juvenile home. However, the child’s family alleges that since the incident, the father of the minor and local Trinamool leader Boltu Roy and his family members have been pressuring him to drop the rape case. They are not even allowing drinking water from the village taps. The child’s family is receiving death threats as soon as he leaves the house. They are practically under house arrest. They were forced to approach the district police superintendent for security. The mother of the child claimed, “We are being pressured to drop the rape case. She is also threatening to kill my husband. They are getting so much courage because they are Trinamool. I am very scared.”

As soon as this incident became public, the police administration became restless. Malda District Superintendent of Police Alok Rajoria said, “I have received a complaint from the family of that child. There are serious allegations. The matter will be seriously investigated. The police officer of Gazol police station has also been instructed in this regard.”

However, the district BJP leadership has attacked the Trinamool Congress over the whole incident. Maldah district BJP president Govind Chandra Mandal said, “The culprit has been arrested after the incident. Good thing! But the aftermath of the arrest is even more painful. For 34 years, the CPM had shut down the opposition’s laundry, shops and markets to put pressure on the opposition. The boy who has committed such a heinous crime is from Trinamool. The people of the convict’s house have forced the family of the victim to boycott from the shelter of the ruling party. The victim’s family is under house arrest. This is as if the era of CPM is back. People will not forgive them.”

The district TMC in extreme uncomfortable with the incident. The district Trinamool leadership has made it clear that such incidents will not be tolerated.