'Girls shouldn't be allowed...': Mamata Banerjee on Durgapur gangrape

Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said that girls should not be allowed to move out of college at night. Her statement came against the backdrop of the gang rape case that took place in Durgapur.

“The girls should not be allowed to go outside (college) at night. They have to protect themselves also. There is a forest area. Police are searching all the people. Nobody will be excused. Whoever is guilty will be punished strictly. Three people have already been arrested. We will take stringent action…” she said.

“When it happens in other states, it is also condemnable. Such incidents have taken place in Manipur, UP, Bihar, Odisha; we also think the government must take stringent action there. In our state, we charge-sheeted the people within 1–2 months, and the lower court gave the order to hang the accused,” the Chief Minister added.

“The girl was studying in a private medical college. How did she come out at 12:30 a.m.? As far as I know, the incident took place in the forest area. I do not know what happened. The investigation is on. I’m shocked to see the incident, but private medical colleges also should take care of their students, and especially girls,” Mamata further said, as quoted by news agency ANI.

The victim, a medical student, is from Jaleswar in Odisha. The student had gone out of the campus on Friday at 8:30 p.m. with a male friend, when a man dragged her to a secluded place behind the hospital and raped her.

The police received information about the incident and rushed to the spot, following which a probe into the matter began. The survivor was admitted to the hospital for medical examination afterward.

Police have so far made three arrests in the case and are also questioning the medical college staff and other people, including the friend with whom the woman had gone out of the campus.