Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addresses the inauguration of Milan Mela, a permanent fairground.
In a shocking statement, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday commented on the Nadia rape and murder case, questioning if the girl was actually raped or had a love affair that got her pregnant.
“How do you know if she was raped or was pregnant or had a love affair or was sick? Even family knew it was a love affair. If a couple is in a relationship, how can I stop them?”, she said during an address at the inauguration of Biswa Banga Mela Prangan. “This is not UP that I can do that in the name of Love Jihad”, she further said.
“You (girl’s family) also conducted the last rites of the body. I am talking as a layman. From where will they (police) get the evidence whether she was raped or she was pregnant or there was any other reason such as she was slapped by someone after which she fell ill,” Banerjee said.
The opposition BJP panned Banerjee for her comment and wondered whether her remarks were aimed at influencing the probe.
“Shocking statement by Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, who trivialises the brutal rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl in Nadia’s Hanskhali.
She questions the victim and asks if it was a love affair or a case of unplanned pregnancy gone awry! Because the accused is TMC leader’s son,” senior BJP leader and the party’s co-in charge of West Bengal, Amit Malviya, tweeted.
The chief minister also asked why the girl’s family members lodged a police complaint five days after her death and cremating the body. Opposition parties described Banerjee’s statement as “shocking” and alleged that she seeks to shield the accused as he is the son of a leader of her party.
In the Nadia rape case, the girl died after she was allegedly gang-raped at a birthday party at the house of the accused on April 5. She was bleeding profusely when she returned home and died later that night, according to her parents who lodged a police complaint on April 10.
A detailed investigation is being carried out, she said adding that she will ask the state commission for protection of child rights to take up the case.
(Agency inputs)
Also Read: Bengal: Class 9 girl dies after gangrape at b’day party of TMC leader’s son; cremated forcibly