2012, 2022, 2024, Why is Mamata Banerjee seen trolling the victim every time in a rape case?

In April 2012, when IPS officer Damyanti Sen received a transfer order, she was shocked as she did not know what had happened. Sen was in the headlines of Kolkata media at that time. She had just solved the Park Street rape case. Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) of Kolkata Police, Damyanti Sen was removed from that post and posted as DIG (Training) in Barrackpore Police Training College.

What was his fault? In fact, he dared to deflate the claims of the then new Chief Minister. Mamata Banerjee had barely entered Writers’ Building (the secretariat of the West Bengal government) for a year and she dismissed the rape case as ‘shajano ghotona’ (fake incident) and claimed that it was a ‘fabricated incident’ to ‘defame her new government.

Didi (Mamata Banerjee) probably did not like Dayamanti Sen investigating the Park Street gang rape case, solving it and arresting the five culprits. Sen went against the CM here because no one would go against Didi. That was 2012 and now it is 2024.. that means not much has changed in 12 years.

During this period, during the Banerjee government, cases like Hanskhali, Kamduni, Kakdwip, Ranaghat, Siuri, Sandeshkhali came up. She dismissed the rape incident in Hanskhali as an ‘affair’ while she called the protesters in Kamduni ‘CPI(M) supporters’ because these protesters had raised questions on crimes against women. In May-June 2021, rape complaints were suppressed in police stations across Bengal, then she kept quiet.

Now, when Kolkata is in the news for yet another rape and murder case, with protestors demanding justice, Mamata Banerjee is protesting against the protests. Aren’t you wondering what her protest was against? Are you also thinking that she is not in power in the state?

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien, who has always defended Banerjee’s excesses and lapses, says: “Justice will be done only when the CBI catches all those involved and sends the case to a fast-track court. It should not be quietly buried by the CBI taking over the case. The need of the hour is that there is swift justice and the culprits get the harshest punishment. No one who committed this barbaric act should be spared.”

So the blame has been passed on to the CBI. The state government has conveniently washed its hands of the young doctor’s blood. The chief minister, along with all her women MPs and MLAs, staged a protest against her own government for failing to solve the case. Because no one can troll like Didi.

For example, let’s take April 2022. A 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped in Nadia. The girl died. Do you know what CM Mamata Banerjee said after that? The CM said, “It is being said that a minor has died due to rape, will you call it rape? Was she pregnant or did she have a love affair? Have they inquired? I have asked the police. They have made arrests. I was told that the girl had an affair with the boy.” It is worth noting that the accused was allegedly the son of a local TMC veteran leader.

Then in 2013, the Kamduni gangrape happened. When Banerjee visited Kamduni 10 days after the incident, she had to face a mob of angry women. One of them shouted at her, “Have you come here to show your face?” Mamata was asked this question a few days before the panchayat election campaign and Didi once again began to smell a conspiracy against her government.

Mamata Banerjee then said, “People here are CPM supporters. I am sad to say that the CPM is doing politics. All the goons arrested for the rape-murder were CPM supporters. Chor-er ma-er boro gola (the mother of a thief screams loudest)” Banerjee spat on the crowd before getting into her car. The crowd was not ready to forgive. They all knew that the main accused was a relative of the TMC panchayat pradhan.

Rapes top Mamata Banerjee’s diary of mistakes. Especially if someone from her party is guilty. Mamata Banerjee has called many rape cases false year after year during her years in power. She herself becomes the victim when she is asked to answer on rape cases as a woman leader. If questions are asked by the opposition, she makes counter allegations.

Even in the RG Tax case, when conspiracy theories are spreading rapidly and powerful people are being named in hushed tones, women are screaming, blowing conches, taking out candle marches and demanding justice from the state government; Mamata Banerjee’s reaction is typical of a textbook Banerjee. Before someone blames you, declare yourself a victim. The truth is that this is not a fake incident.