KOLKATA: Facing a severe backlash over her remark on the alleged gang-rape of a medical student in West Bengal’s Durgapur, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday claimed that her statement was deliberately distorted and taken out of context.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee — under attack for her comment on the Durgapur gang rape case that the BJP said “unlike others, I have the decency to meet you and speak directly. Others merely respond to pre-decided questions.”
“My address at Dum Dum Airport has been deliberately distorted. You ask me a question, and when I answer, my words are twisted and taken out of context. Do not try this nasty politics with me,” the Chief Minister said.
Banerjee said that a girl should not be allowed to go out at night. “How did she come out at 12.30 at night?” she asked, asserting it was unfair to single out her government as it was the private medical college’s responsibility to ensure her safety.
“She was studying in a private medical college. Whose responsibility is it? How did she come out at 12.30 at night?” she had asked in her first remarks to the media after the incident. A girl shouldn’t be allowed to come outside at night-time. They also have to protect themselves,” she said, while calling the incident “shocking.” “No one will be excused,” she added.The Chief Minister had also added that the Bengal police were taking all necessary steps.
Banerjee also questioned why her government is targetted every time a rape incident occurs. Referring to an incident nearly a month ago, when a student was gang raped at Odisha’s Puri beach, she asked, “What action is being taken by the Odisha government?”
The BJP said Ms Banerjee was indulging in victim-blaming instead of ensuring justice to her.
“Shameless @MamataOfficial a blot on womanhood, even more for being a CM. After RG Kar and Sandeshkhali, now this horrific case and instead of justice, she blames the victim!” BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said in a post on X.
The second-year student from Jaleswar, Odisha, has been pursuing an MBBS course at a private medical college in Durgapur. On Friday night, she was out with a friend when some men approached them. They forcibly took the woman to a secluded area and raped her.
On Friday evening, a 23-year-old second-year MBBS student at a private medical college in Durgapur, nearly 170 kilometres from Kolkata, was gang-raped in a secluded area behind the hospital.
The father of the student, who belongs to Odisha, said he will be taking his daughter back home, as he feels it is no longer safe for her.
“They could kill her here any moment. That’s why we want to take her back to Odisha. Trust has been lost. We don’t want her to stay in Bengal. She will pursue her education in Odisha,” the girl’s father told media.
