Rampurhat massacre toll rises to nine as one more woman succumbs to burn injuries

Senior CPI(M) leader Biman Bose (third from left) visits the area in Rampurhat on March 23 where some miscreants set houses on fire in the retaliatory violence following the murder of TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh.

The number of casualties in the Rampurhat massacre, in which eight people were burnt to death, increased to nine as one more victim succumbed to burn injuries in the hospital on March 28. Najema Bibi, who had been fighting for her life since March 21, was admitted to the hospital with 65 per cent burns. On March 27, her condition deteriorated and she was put on ventilator support and she passed away this morning. The three other victims who were hospitalised along with her—two women and a child—are reported to be in a stable condition.

On March 21, in the retaliatory violence following the murder of Bhadu Sheikh, an influential Trinamool Congress gram panchayat leader in the Rampurhat region, eight people, including six women and one child, were burnt alive in Bogtui village as miscreants went on a rampage and set fire to several houses. The brutality of the killings sent shockwaves across the country and, on March 25, the Calcutta High Court ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the incident. On March 27, a CBI team went to the Rampurhat Medical College Hospital where the injured victims were admitted and recorded their statements.

Violence in the Assembly

The Rampurhat violence has sparked off a major outcry in social and political circles. Opposition parties as well as representatives of civil society have been staging protest meetings and demonstrations against the spiralling of political violence in the State. On March 28, MLAs from the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition in the State, came to blows over the issue in the Assembly. MLAs from both parties were injured and several had to be hospitalised. Members of both the parties accused each other of carrying out a planned attack. Five BJP MLAs, including Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, Manoj Tigga, Shankar Ghosh, Dipak Barman and Narahari Mahato were suspended by the Speaker of the Assembly Biman Banerjee.