The alleged rape and subsequent death of a 14-year-old girl at Hanshkhali in West Bengal’s Nadia district has sparked a huge social and political outcry, with the opposition parties raising questions on the security of women in the State. Although the main accused, 21-year-old Brajagopal Gayali, the son of Trinamool gram panchayat leader Samar Gayali, was arrested, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s comments on the crime caused further political furor. "It was a small incident, which we do not like, but still takes place, and it is constantly being harped upon. The police do not yet know…. Are you going to call it rape or [was she] pregnant or a love affair?" the Chief Minister said on April 11.
The alleged rape of the class nine student took place on April 4, when she had gone to attend the birthday party of Brajagopal Gayali. The victim’s family members alleged that the following day, the girl died of excessive bleeding. They also accused Gayali’s family of burning the girl’s body. On April 10, Brajagopal Gayali was arrested.
Mamata Banerjee raised certain questions relating to the crime, which gave the opposition yet another handle to attack the government with. "It was a bad thing, and an arrest has been made; but I heard there was a love affair between the boy and the girl. Was it an actual rape? Or was she pregnant? Or was there any other reason? Or was she repeatedly slapped? Even her family members knew she was having an affair," said Mamata Banerjee. She claimed it was not possible for the government to forcibly stop people from having affairs. "If a boy and a girl are having an affair, how can I stop that? This is not U.P. that I will start a love jehad programme," she said.
Mamata also pointed to the delay in the family lodging a police complaint. "The girl died on the 5th, the police got to know on the 10th. If somebody died on the 5th and there was any ground for suspicion or any complaint, then why was a complaint not filed with the police on the 5th itself? You burnt the body. I am speaking as a layman, without knowing the full details. Where will they get the evidence?" said Mamata. She said that an arrest was made and "no political colour" was considered when apprehending the accused.
"In poor taste"
Reacting to what she said, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari of the Bharatiya Janata Party said, her comment was in "extremely poor taste". "How did she know whether the minor girl was pregnant, or whether she was having a love affair? Why did the police not stop the burning of the body? Why was no post-mortem done?" said Adhikari, while addressing the media.
Pradesh Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is also Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, compared the crime with the Hathras rape and murder case of 2020. "Did that little 14-year-old girl not come under the government of Maa, Mati, Manush (Mother, Earth, Humanity – Trinamool’s political catchword). This State has already turned into Hathras…. There are so many more murders and rapes that we are not even aware of," said Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury at a media conference. He accused the Chief Minister of trying to shield the criminals. "Why are you advocating on behalf of the rapists and the murderers? This is our question to you [Chief Minister]," he said.
State secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Md. Salim sarcastically said, "The Chief Minister appears to have expertise on the subjects of love affair, marriage, pregnancy, rape. But that has nothing to do with law and order. She needs to tell her goons not to commit such crimes. Such incidents are taking place every day."
West Bengal Governor, Jagdeep Dhankhar sought an "urgent report" from the Chief Secretary on the incident.
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