In a crude reminder of Delhi’s 2012 brutal gang-rape of Nirbhaya, a woman in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district was raped and brutalised with an iron rod. Police said on Monday that the accused of a relative of the woman, with whom he had a property dispute.
The victim has had to be admitted in Jalpaiguri Sadar Hospital with her condition being termed as critical. According to local police, the woman was raped on Saturday night near a pond, where the victim’s relative had called her to meet to discuss the property dispute matter. The incident took place under Dhupguri police station. The alleged rapist was accompanied by another man, who, however, did not rape her.
The rapist took advantage of the absence of the woman’s husband, who was not at home on Saturday night.
After raping the woman, the man also allegedly inserted an iron rod in her private parts. The woman was found in pain by a rickshaw-puller, who carried her to her home reported PTI.
The woman was first taken to a local hospital before being transferred to Jalpaiguri Sadar Hospital in north Bengal.
The incident has sent shockwaves across India evoking angry reactions on social media. One user wrote on Twitter, “Feeling Disgusted, Ashamed & Helpless ! Another Nirbhaya Case in West Bengal.” Another user commented, “Does Mamta really care what she preaches and blames against BJP, unable to control her state law and order – Nirbhaya case in West Bengal: Woman raped, rod inserted in her private parts.”
The Jalpaiguri’s incident is now being compared with what happened Nirbhaya in December 2012 in Delhi in 2012, when she was gang-raped by a group of men including a juvenile in a moving bus. Her rapists had also inserted iron rod in her private parts, causing fatal injuries to her. She later died at a hospital in Singapore.
Police have detained the relatives of the accused and his companion.