Women Drinking Alcohol Is Harming Society: Bengal Cop Sparks Controversy

A video of a West Bengal police officer making controversial remarks about women's behaviour has gone viral on social media, triggering widespread criticism.

In the clip, Additional Superintendent of Police Laltu Haldar of Ranaghat Police District in Nadia can be heard saying that women are now "going on rampages" and "drinking alcohol." 

"Boys will do wrong things. Women's job is to stop them. But now it is women who are drinking alcohol and going on rampages. This is causing harm to society," the officer is heard saying in the video, which was recorded during a meeting with organisers of Jagadhatri Puja, a festival celebrated widely across West Bengal.

'If Women Behave Like This, Society Will Go Crazy'

In his address, Haldar said he was "ashamed" to have witnessed young women consuming alcohol during last year's Kali Puja processions.

"I am ashamed to say that during the last Kali Puja, we have seen that the rate of taking alcohol in the procession is the highest among young girls. Girls are standing on the streets and drinking alcohol. Is this the beauty of the procession? I condemn this procession," Haldar said.

"If the women of the house become like this, the society will go crazy. Boys misbehave and women will drag them from behind. But if those girls are the ones who commit the rampages, then you can understand where the society will go," he added.

According to police sources, no action has yet been taken against the officer for his remarks.

Broader Debate On Women's Safety

The controversy comes days after public outrage over the gang rape of a 23-year-old MBBS student near a medical college in Durgapur, West Bengal.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had drawn criticism for her response to that case, after she appeared to shift responsibility for student safety to private institutions.

She was studying in a private medical college. Whose responsibility is it? How did she come out at 12.30 at night?" 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 had said.