"How Was She Out At 12.30 am?" Mamata Banerjee's Shocker After Gang Rape

In shocking remarks in the aftermath of an MBBS student's gang rape in West Bengal's Durgapur, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has tried to shift the responsibility of students' security to private colleges and questioned how the 23-year-old student managed to leave the campus late at night. The comments have drawn a sharp response, with the BJP accusing the Chief Minister of victim shaming. 

"She was studying in a private medical college. Whose responsibility is it? How did she come out at 12.30 at night?" she asked in her first remarks to the media after the incident. The Chief Minister described the incident as "shocking" and added that Bengal police were taking all necessary steps.

She said private medical colleges should take care of their students and the "culture at night". "They should not be allowed to come out. They have to protect themselves. It is a forest area," Banerjee said.

Hitting out at the BJP government in Odisha, Banerjee brought up cases of rape in the neighbouring state. "In Odisha, girls were raped on sea beaches. What action has been taken by the Odisha government?" she asked.

The Chief Minister said the guilty will be punished. "We will take stringent action. When it happens in other states, it is condemnable. Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Odisha have seen so many (such cases). We think the governments there should take stringent action." 

The BJP has said that the Bengal Chief Minister is blaming the victim instead of ensuring justice in sexual violence cases. "Shameless @MamataOfficial a blot on womanhood, even more for being a CM. After RG Kar and Sandeshkhali, now this horrific case and instead of justice, she blames the victim!" BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said in a post on X.

"A Chief Minister who tells girls not to go out at night, rather than ensuring their safety, has no moral right to stay in office. People now realise they have reposed faith in an anarchist, heartless Mamata. She must resign and be held accountable under law."

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the Bengal Chief Minister "blames the beti (daughter) and defends the Balatkari (rapist). "Time & again: RG Kar, Sandeshkhali, Park Street - this has been done," Poonawalla said, referring to Banerjee's controversial statements in the past. "Will the outrage lobby who was shouting yesterday - Supriya Shrinate, Priyanka Vadra, Rahul Gandhi etc open their mouths now?" he asked.

The second-year student from Jaleswar, Odisha, has been pursuing an MBBS course at a private medical college in Durgapur. On Friday night, she was out with a friend when some men approached them. They forcibly took the woman to a secluded area and raped her.

Shocked by the incident, the woman's father has said he will take her back to Odisha and that he is concerned about her safety in Bengal.

"My daughter is in pain. She can't walk right now. She is bedridden. I am concerned about her safety here. They could kill her here any moment. That's why we want to take her back to Odisha. Trust has been lost. We don't want her to stay in Bengal. She will pursue her education in Odisha," the heartbroken father has said.

He has also said Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Manjhi has reached out to him. "The Odisha Chief Minister has spoken to me. The administration is helping us," he said, adding that he has requested that his daughter be given admission in an Odisha medical college.

Three people have been arrested, and one is detained in connection with the crime. The three arrested have been identified as Apu Bauri (21), Firdos Sekh (23), and Sekh Reajuddin (31). The male friend accompanying the survivor is also under the scanner, police sources have said.

West Bengal police have said it is "deeply saddened" by the incident and assured that the culprits won't go unpunished. "The pain of the victim is as much ours as it is Odisha's, and we shall leave no stone unturned to bring the perpetrators to justice," it said on X.

Odisha Chief Minister Manjhi has called the incident "highly condemnable and painful". "I strongly urge the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, to take exemplary action against the accused as per the law. I have instructed senior officials to contact the West Bengal government and take necessary steps. The Odisha government will provide all possible assistance to the victim's family." 

The incident in Durgapur comes a year after the brutal rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, and months after a student was raped at a law college in Kolkata.