Kolkata: The Supreme Court today took suo motu cognizance of the gang-rape of a 20-year old tribal woman in West Bengal’s Birbhum district and described the incident as very disturbing. The apex court bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam also issued notice to the West Bengal government.
The 20-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped on the orders of the salishi sabha – equivalent of khap panchayats – on Tuesday and on Thursday all the 13 men accused of gang-raping the woman were sent to judicial custody for 14 days by the additional chief judicial magistrate.
They were charged under Section 341 (wrongful confinement), Section 376(D) (gang-rape) and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
The Mamata Banerjee government had on Thursday ordered the removal of the superintendent of police, C Sudhakar, following the countrywide shock triggered by the gang-rape.
The incident happened at Subalpur village within Labhpur police station area limits in Birbhum district, about 200 km southwest of state capital Kolkata. President Pranab Mukherjee belongs to this district. She was initially slapped a fine of Rs. 50,000 for falling in love with a youth from a different community. The gang-rape was ordered after the family said they would not be able to pay the fine.
The victim said, I have lost count of how many men took turns to rape me. They were more than five. It could even be 10. It’s horrific. They (rapists) are all our neighbours and I call some of them as kaka (uncle) and some others as dada (elder brother) or bhai (brother). The girl underwent medical test at the Suri civil hospital on Wednesday morning.
Her family lodged a complaint with the police on Wednesday afternoon following which the police conducted a raid on the village. They arrested five people, including the salishi sabha head Sunil Soren, who allegedly led the gang-rape.
Bureau Report
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