The victim Rosonara Khatun (Image Source: News 18)
In a shocking turn of events, another case of a woman being attacked, assaulted, and stripped for supporting the BJP has emerged, this time from the Cooch Behar district of West Bengal. The woman, identified as Rosonara Khatun, was abused, assaulted, and stripped for supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recently concluded Lok Sabha Elections.
The incident took place at Ramthenga Market in the Mathabhanga Assembly constituency. Rosonara Khatun, a member of the BJP’s Minority Morcha, was dragged by her hair and subjected to a severe physical assault. This brutal incident has shocked the Muslim community. Since the election results were announced, she had been in a state of panic and avoided leaving her home. She is currently admitted to the hospital.
On June 27, the BJP stated that political violence in West Bengal is a major concern, especially under the Mamata Banerjee-led government. It alleged that a woman worker was stripped and beaten up for supporting the saffron party in Cooch Behar district.
Amit Malviya, the BJP IT-incharge, said there is a “Sandeshkhali in every village” of the state, referring to the small fishing village in the Basirhat subdivision of North 24 Parganas district. In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the area was in the news after several women residents made sexual assault allegations against the now-jailed TMC strongman Shahjahan Sheikh and his men.
“There is a #Sandeshkhali in every village of Bengal. The incident has sparked widespread outrage and calls for justice. Concerns over political violence and the safety of women under Mamata Banerjee remain a huge concern,” Malviya said in a post on X, where he shared a video of the woman worker in a hospital after the alleged assault.
The TMC has not yet responded to the BJP’s allegations.
In a similar incident on March 8, 2024, the wife of the BJP booth president was attacked in Altapur village, located in the Karandighi sub-division of Uttar Dinajpur district, West Bengal.
In a video shared by the ‘BJP West Bengal’ handle on X (formerly Twitter), the victim recounted the horrifying events. “A mob of 300-400 Muslims descended on my house. I was talking to them through the window, pleading with them to leave us alone,” she said.
“They ignored my pleas, broke the window and our door, and took away our belongings such as a suitcase, almirah, TV, bed, and even utensils for keeping rice,” she continued.
The victim, while breaking down in tears, described further destruction. “They also broke the idols of Goddess Durga and Goddess Manasha. My son was attacked, and they broke his leg. My daughter’s hand was fractured. They threw bricks at me, causing my ears to bleed.”
“They tore my clothes and stripped me. There was not a single Hindu among them; all of them were Muslims,” she emphasised.
Notably, back in July 2023, two tribal women were stripped and assaulted at a village market in West Bengal’s Malda district.
A purported video of the incident was shared by BJP I-T cell head Amit Malviya on X, claiming the incident took place in Malda on July 19.
Attacking state chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Malviya wrote on Twitter, “A frenzied mob baying for her blood… It had all the making of a tragedy that should have ‘broken’ Mamata Banerjee’s heart and she, instead of merely outraging, could have acted, since she is also the Home Minister of Bengal…”
He stated that the Bengal CM chose to do nothing about the incident. “Neither she condemned the barbarity nor did she express pain and anguish,” Malviya alleged.
According to locals, the incident occurred at the Pakua Hat (weekly market) at Bamangola in Malda district on July 19.
Allegations surfaced that five tribal women from Malda’s Manikchak area had come to the weekly market to sell local products. They were caught stealing from other women. While three managed to escape, local women caught the two women and assaulted them.
“It is not a matter of states whether MANIPUR OR WEST BENGAL every daughter of this country deserves respect irrespective of politics, caste, and creed. As per the required evidence, here are the shocking and horrific visuals of how women are assaulted in Malda, WB,” Locket Chatterjee, BJP MP, wrote on Twitter.
The Malda incident came to light a day after Chatterjee alleged that a party candidate was stripped, groped, and paraded naked at Panchla in West Bengal’s Howrah on July 8 during the panchayat elections.
Torture against women in West Bengal has become disturbingly commonplace under the Mamata Banerjee government, with the events in Sandeshkhali being particularly unimaginable.
Sandeshkhali, a village in the Basirhat subdivision of North 24 Parganas district, has become a hotspot for political violence, especially between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The most notable incident occurred on June 8, 2019, when a clash erupted between TMC and BJP supporters during a political rally. According to reports, the violence was intense and brutal. Here are the key details of the Sandeshkhali Horror.
Among the most disturbing aspects of the Sandeshkhali Horror were allegations of sexual assault. Several women in the village claimed they were sexually assaulted by members of the rival political faction. These allegations added a horrific dimension to the violence, highlighting the extreme vulnerability of women in such politically charged environments.
Victims recounted harrowing experiences: “TMC workers would come to the village and pick out the ‘beautiful women.’ They would hunt for young women and send diktats to their families to hand over the victims to them.”
“You may be the husband, but you cannot exercise your right. They would take your wife away for nights at a stretch. They would not release the women from their captivity until they were ‘fully satisfied.’ They have 20-30 goons with them. They would come on bikes and exercise their writ in the village,” the victims reported.
One of the victims, Rekha Patra, also contested the Lok Sabha polls on BJP’s ticket from the Basirhat constituency but lost the election to TMC’s SK Nurul Islam by more than 3 lakh votes.
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