TMC MP Derek O'Brien was one of the first to respond to the rape threat against party’s general secretary Abhishek Banerjee's minor daughter
Credit: PTI Photo
Kolkata: Already beleaguered by the outrage over the sexual assault and murder of a doctor in Kolkata, the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal on Monday strongly reacted to a video, circulated online, showing a man protesting against the incident allegedly announcing a reward of Rs 10 crore for ‘raping’ the minor daughter of the party’s general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
“To hurl rape threats at @abhishekaitc’s 11-year-old daughter is beyond depraved. What kind of evil is being nurtured in our society?” Sagarika Ghose, a TMC member in the Rajya Sabha, posted on X.
“Fight us politically with your filthy tricks. You have done it before. But today you have crossed the line. Stop threatening kids. No words (are) enough to condemn the gutter-level threats to our National General Secretary’s daughter. STOP THIS NOW,” Ghose’s colleague Derek O’Brien, another member of the Rajya Sabha, wrote on the social media platform.
The video shows a man talking to journalists during a march to protest against the recent rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. He was apparently criticising the TMC supremo and the state’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s announcement that the Government of West Bengal would pay Rs 10 lakh to the bereaved family of the deceased doctor.
He then went on to say amid applause that protesting people would together pay Rs 10 crore to anyone who would rape Abhishek Bandopadhyay’s daughter.
The West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) took suo motu cognisance of the video and urged the police to take immediate action.
“While the entire state is mourning the sad demise of the doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, calling for another rape to settle scores is clearly violative of the law and could send out a dangerous message to society if punitive measures are not taken. This can put not just the minor girl in question but all minor girls at risk,” the commission noted, requesting police to arrest the culprits and give adequate protection to the “minor in question”.
The WBCPCR claimed that the man seen in the video was a resident of Malancha in the Minakhan block of North 24 Parganas district of the state.
The parents of the deceased doctor already turned down the state government’s offer of Rs 10 lakh.