In the aftermath of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly election results, several women who suffered sexual violence during the 2021 post-poll violence have come forward seeking justice. Speaking to Organiser Senior Assistant Editor Nishant Kumar Azad, former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy reflects on the Mamata Banerjee Government’s handling of crimes against women. He clearly stated that many post-poll violence cases, especially rape cases, were never properly investigated. Excerpts:
In 2021, when post-poll violence took place, several women became victims of rape. Organiser covered those incidents extensively. At the time, the Mamata Banerjee Government denied any such incidents had occurred. Now, after the 2026 election results, some of those victims, particularly women from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities, have come forward seeking justice. How do you view the fact that Mamata Government was in denial mode?
Soon after the Trinamool Congress Government was formed in West Bengal, the notorious Park Street rape incident occurred in 2012. At that time, it created a sensation among law-abiding citizens. Even then, the then Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reportedly denied. The officer investigating the matter was very popular and highly competent. She was conducting the investigation as directed by the Government. Overnight, she was transferred, and the case was hushed up.
During the 2021 post-poll violence and later on, atrocities against women, particularly rape cases, began increasing throughout the State. The victims were often from the downtrodden sections of society – backward classes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other marginalised communities.
When they went to police stations, even their complaints were not accepted. Forget about FIRs. Only those cases that appeared in newspapers were registered, and even those were subsequently hushed up.
Eventually, this continuous ignorance by the TMC Government culminated in the mass upsurge that followed the brutal rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata. In a hospital where thousands of patients, doctors, nurses and healthcare workers remain present even at night, it was claimed that a civic volunteer suddenly appeared, raped the young doctor and murdered her. However the entire material evidence was wiped out.
This was the manner in which crimes were taking place, and this was the manner in which cases were allegedly hushed up. This was the state of affairs prevailing in Bengal. Now, the people have taught them a lesson.
During my reporting on the 2021 post-poll violence, and again this time, I noticed a recurring pattern. In many cases, the victims were Hindus while the accused were Muslims associated with the TMC. Do you see any agenda behind this pattern?
In many of the incidents that occurred after the 2021 election, the victims belonged to backward communities, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, while the perpetrators were Muslims. Why? Because they have always had their eyes on Bengali girls, particularly Hindu girls. Once such a crime takes place, the victim often faces social ostracisation, and eventually may become vulnerable to religious conversion. That, in my view, was the objective.
“Muslims always had their eyes on Hindu Bengali girls. Once such crime (rape) happens, victim faces social ostracisation, and becomes vulnerable to religious conversion”
That was the main aim. It was not spontaneous. It was engineered. Influential people were behind such plans, and a free-for-all atmosphere was created. If you go through the crime records, you will find that many of the perpetrators were Muslims, while many of the victims were Hindus. This is a pattern that has repeatedly emerged.
Rape victims told me that the police refused to register FIRs. Do you believe there were instructions from the top leadership directing the police not to file cases?
I have no personal knowledge of any such instructions. However, I have been in politics for the last 59 years. Such things cannot happen without directions from the top. An ordinary police officer cannot make such decisions on his own. There were mass demonstrations outside police stations on many occasions, demanding to know why complaints were not being registered and why investigations were not being conducted. Opposition parties repeatedly raised their voices on behalf of the victims. Yet no meaningful action was taken. My understanding is that the police operate under orders from higher authorities. The thinking appeared to be that if such incidents were officially recorded, they would be included in the NCRB statistics. Therefore, to project the impression that law and order were perfectly normal in West Bengal and that women was completely safe, a deliberate strategy was adopted. In my opinion, it was a calculated strategy.
