Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee with party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee (Photo: PTI)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday evening, calling for urgent and strict action against the rising incidence of rape cases across India. The letter comes in the wake of the rape and murder of a resident doctor at the R. G. Kar Medical College in Kolkata, an incident that has sparked widespread outrage and protests across the country.
In her letter, Banerjee highlighted the alarming frequency of rape cases and cited data indicating that nearly 90 such cases occur every day across India. She expressed concern over the impact of these crimes on the conscience of society and stressed the need for a collective effort to ensure the safety of women.
Banerjee’s letter reads: “It is appalling to see that nearly 90 cases of rape are occurring every day across the country. This shakes the confidence and conscience of the society and the nation. It is our bounden duty to put an end to this so that women feel safe and protected.”
The Chief Minister called for the introduction of strict central legislation prescribing exemplary punishments for perpetrators of such heinous crimes. She also suggested the establishment of special fast-track courts to ensure speedy trials, and proposed that trials in rape cases be completed within 15 days to deliver justice quickly.
Abhishek Banerjee: “900 rapes in the last 10 days”
The call for action was echoed by Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who took to social media to further emphasise the urgency of the situation.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Abhishek Banerjee pointed out the shocking statistic that 900 rapes occurred across India in the ten days following the RG Kar Medical College incident, during which people were protesting for justice.
Abhishek Banerjee wrote: “With 90 RAPE REPORTED DAILY, 4 EVERY HOUR AND 1 EVERY 15 MINUTES, the urgency for decisive action is clear. We need strong laws that mandate trials and convictions within 50 days, followed by the harshest punishments, not just empty promises.”
For the past 10 days, as the nation has been protesting against the #RGKarMedicalcollege incident and demanding justice, 900 RAPE has occurred in different parts of India – DURING THE SAME TIME WHEN PEOPLE WERE ON THE STREETS PROTESTING AGAINST THIS HORRIBLE CRIME.…— Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) August 22, 2024
Business standard The statistics shared by both political leaders could not be verified. However, data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows that around 31,000 rapes were reported in India in 2022. This would be around 85 rapes a day.
Rape and murder in Calcutta
The incident that occurred on August 9, 2024 at the RG Kar Medical College, where a junior doctor was brutally raped and murdered, has left the nation in shock. The young doctor’s body was discovered in a seminar room on the college campus in a semi-naked state, with visible injuries and signs of violence. Disturbingly, despite the obvious trauma, the incident was initially wrongly classified as suicide, raising concerns about a cover-up by the hospital authorities.
The case was re-examined only after the victim’s parents insisted on a proper investigation, citing the severe injuries sustained on their daughter’s body. Police subsequently arrested Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer with the Kolkata police’s disaster management force, in connection with the crime.
The case has sparked a nationwide call for accountability, stricter laws and faster prosecutions to combat the rising tide of sexual violence against women in India.
First published: August 23, 2024 | 10:28 am IS
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