West Bengal CM shamed victim and defended accused: BJP

New Delhi, April 12

The BJP has criticised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for giving love angle twist to rape and murder of a minor girl at Hanskhali in Nadia district.

The BJP said that the chief minister shamed the victim and defended the accused.

West Bengal BJP co-incharge Amit Malviya mentioned that sexual intercourse with a minor is rape and is a crime. "Mamata Banerjee's crass comment on the rape and murder of 14-year-old girl in Hanskhali is not just abhorrent but also steeped in gross illegality. Sexual intercourse with a minor is rape. It is a crime. Her murder is a crime. Bengal CM shamed the victim and defended the accused," Malviya tweeted.

In an earlier tweet, he said: "Shocking statement by Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, who trivialises the brutal rape and murder of a 14 year old girl in Nadia's Hanskhali. She questions the victim and asks if it was a love affair or a case of unplanned pregnancy gone awry! Because the accused is TMC leader's son."

The controversy over the rape of a minor girl, who died later, at Hanskhali in Nadia district of West Bengal last week took a more debatable turn on Monday afternoon after the chief minister gave a love-angle twist to the incident.

Speaking at the inauguration of the revamped Milan Mela, a permanent fair ground opposite the Science City at the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in Kolkata on Monday afternoon, the chief minister referred to the minor's rape in connection with which Brajagopal Goyal, son of a local panchayat member, Samar Goyal, was arrested on Sunday.

"What has happened is not right. I condemn it. The police have arrested the accused. But the opposition parties and a section of the media are trying to give a political twist to the entire event. I have received the news that there was a love affair between the accused and the victim. So why come to a conclusion before the investigation is completed," the chief minister had said.