TMC councillor’s husband held for attempt to rape

“They kept on asking me what was I doing with so many men. I tried to explain that I was with my husband and the others were passengers who had alighted from the bus. But they did not listen. The harassment continued even after I showed them my voter identity card,” she said, adding that her husband was beaten up when the accused tried to touch her and he objected.

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In the meantime, they were spotted by officers from the Bankura Sadar police station, the victim claimed. Bapi and his associates, however, entered into an argument with the policemen and even beat up an on-duty officer and damaged his mobile phone.

Later, Bapi was arrested under non-bailable sections of the IPC. However, when he was produced at the Bankura district court on Tuesday, police did not seek his custody.

While the court sent Bapi to judicial custody for 14 days, the others were set free.

When contacted, Trinamool Congress district president Arup Chakraborty went on to blame the victim for the incident. “What was the woman doing with over half-a-dozen men at a bus stand at midnight?” he asked.

Claiming that Bapi was being framed, he added: “Bapi has a good reputation in the area as a social worker. It is a conspiracy of the CPM and the police to taint Trinamool Congress’ goodwill.”