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West Bengal: Sandeshkhali TMC Worker Detained for 'Molesting' Minor Girl

According to police, the girl, a Class-8 student, managed to escape and started shouting for help as family members and neighbours came out. An officer of Basirhat Police District said the accused, around 20-years-old, is being questioned.

File
Representational image. (File)

By PTI

Published : May 19, 2024, 9:41 AM IST

Kolkata:A TMC worker has been detained for allegedly molesting a minor girl in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali area, police said.

According to the complaint lodged by the girl's mother, the accused "somehow" entered their house on Friday night and molested the minor.

The riverine Sandeshkhali area situated on the borders of the Sundarbans, about 100 km from Kolkata had been on the boil in February with protests over allegations of sexual abuse and land grab against now-arrested TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters.

The girl, a Class-8 student, managed to escape and started shouting for help as family members and neighbours came out, police said, quoting the complaint. An officer of Basirhat Police District said the accused, around 20-years-old, is being questioned.

A medical test has been conducted on the girl, he said, adding that its report is awaited. Alleged atrocities on women has become a flashspont between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress. On Thursday, a woman lodged a police complaint, alleging that she was abducted by three persons from outside her residence in Sandeshkhali where allegations of sexual abuse against TMC leaders have been levelled.

In her complaint with the Sandeshkhali Police Station, the woman claimed that she was pressured to tell courts that alleged atrocities on women in the area were 'false.'

"A complaint was lodged at 2.30 am on Thursday, and a case was filed. The investigation is underway. Three persons have been named in the complaint. No arrests have been made so far," a senior police officer has said. In a purported video shared by BJP leader and lawyer Priyanka Tibrewal on social media, the woman was heard saying that she was gagged and dragged out of her house when she went outside after hearing the barking of dogs. The woman also claimed that she was asked to tell the courts that the alleged incidents of atrocities on women in Sandeshkhali by local TMC leaders were "false".

In a post on X on Wednesday, Tibrewal stated, "Today I visited Sandeshkhali, where TMC goons are threatening the people to prove Sk. Shahjahan is innocent. One woman named Anwesha Mondal told me about the atrocities of Dilip Mallick who few days ago abducted a woman. Following this complaint, today evening, TMC goons abducted her, tied her up, and left her beside a pond to die. We took her to the Police Station.

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