The viral video showing a woman being thrashed in public by a local TMC leader in Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal has triggered a political slugfest with the BJP stating the footage revealed the "ugly face of Mamata Banerjee's rule in West Bengal."
The video from Cooch Behar showed a man, identified as Tajmul aka 'JCB' violently thrashing a woman and another man with a bamboo stick following a decision of a kangaroo court. The woman was seen grimacing in pain as people watched her being attacked.
The man was later arrested by the Islampur Police. The police had also issued a statement against the "misinformation being spread about the incident."
However, the opposition BJP attacked the ruling TMC, stating the incident revealed the ugly face of Mamata Banerjee's rule in West Bengal. "The guy in the video, who is beating up a woman mercilessly... is famous for giving quick justice through his 'insaf' sabha and is a close associate of Chopra MLA Hamidur Rahaman," BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya said in a post on X, sharing the video.
He claimed that there is a Sandeshkhali in every village of West Bengal and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is a "curse for women". "There is no semblance of law and order in Bengal. Will Mamata Banerjee act against this monster or defend him like she stood up for Sheikh Shahjahan?" Malviya said in the post.
The BJP has also constituted a seven-member team to investigate the alleged incident of assault on a minority woman in Cooch Behar.
The CPI(M) and the Congress also slammed the TMC government. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhary called the incident 'unacceptable and said nobody had the right to assault women. "Attacks on women, irrespective of their caste, are unacceptable. Elections have been held, results have been declared, and the ruling party has won the maximum seats in the state, so why is the government resorting to violence in the state?" Chowdhury asked. "Nowhere in the country are we seeing such cases as are seen in Bengal after the elections. No one has the right to exercise violence against women," he said.
Attacking the Mamata Banerjee government, CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim said in a post on X: "Not even #KangarooCourt! Summary trial and punishment handed out by d ?@AITCofficial? goon... Literally bulldozer justice at Chopra under ?@MamataOfficial? rule.
In a later post, Salim shared a video in which police personnel, along with the accused, were seen entering Islampur police station. He claimed, "As usual, the sentry guard was about to offer salute!"
Local TMC MLA Hamidur Rahman, however, denied he has any connection with the accused and distanced himself from the incident. He said it was a village matter and not related to the party.
TMC district president Kaniyalal Agarwal attributed the incident to the couple's alleged illicit relationship, which "did not go down well with the villagers". He said that the party would investigate the episode.
TMC spokesperson Shantanu Sen condemned the incident but also pointed out that such kangaroo courts were common during the Left Front regime too.
(With PTI inputs)
