A supporter of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday submitted a petition in a local court in West Bengal after being allegedly assaulted twice by members of the Trinamool Congress last week, reported the Hindustan Times. She claimed that the police were reluctant to file a complaint against the accused.
On September 26, Nilima Dey Sarkar was allegedly assaulted when participating in a shutdown called by the BJP to protest against the deaths of two people in clashes with police in North Dinajpur district. Dey Sarkar claimed policemen were present when she was assaulted for the first time, when she was kicked and pushed to the ground. The attacks took place at the Barasat rail crossing in the North 24 Paraganas district.
Dey Sarkar claimed that a local panchayat leader, Arshaduzzaman, kicked her after she attempted to save a BJP worker from allegedly being beaten up by Trinamool workers. “Within a few minutes, one of the ruling party workers who were out in the streets to oppose the bandh hit me on the head with a stick and threw me on the ground,” she alleged.
After TV journalists on the spot asked her about the assault, she was attacked again, claimed the 48-year-old woman. When a few BJP workers, along with her husband Prasad Chandra Dey Sarkar, tried to file a complaint with the office of the Superintendent of Police the next day, no action was taken, she said.
“We have filed a petition with the court in Barasat,” said her husband. “We will pursue this matter till the end.”
Chandra Dey Sarkar alleged that police personnel were present when his wife was thrashed with sticks, reported The Indian Express. “She received severe injuries to her leg, hands, back and even on the head as she was attacked twice. No one came to her rescue,” he said. “We knew the police will not take complaint, so we moved court.”
BJP leader Babul Supriyo accused the state government and the police of being “mere spectators” as West Bengal turned into a “breeding ground for filthy hate politics”.
Condemning such incidents, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said, “Women political workers of the opposition parties are being harassed and abused in broad daylight as police choose to be mere mute spectators.”
BJP district president Pradip Banerjee said Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was in Kolkata on Monday, had been informed about the incident. “We don’t expect the police to act,” said Banerjee. “However, a written complaint has been submitted at the office of the Superintendent of Police.”
An unidentified police official said the law will follow its course if a complaint is submitted, reported The Indian Express.
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