“Panite theke kumirer shonge boirita kora jay na” (One cannot afford to make an enemy of a crocodile while living in the water). Imagine getting brutally raped by a number of men in your own house, gathering the courage to reach a police station, only to hear these lines. These were the words of a woman police officer in Bolpur, Birbhum district, uttered to a rape survivor when she knocked on the door of justice. The victim had come to the police station attempting to file an FIR, but instead of receiving empathy, she was met with this remark.
“It’s been five years, but these words still echo in my ears,” Sharmila (name changed) narrated while adjusting the cloth she had covered her face with, to safeguard her identity.
Sharmila is one of those hundreds of women who were allegedly raped when Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress won the 2021 West Bengal Assembly polls. Their mistake? All of those women had supported or voted for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in that election.
“Bengal cannot heal through silence or egg therapy.” Recently, senior Supreme Court advocate Mahesh Jethmalani wrote this on social media about the condition of West Bengal. This statement came amidst all the incidents where eggs were being hurled at the TMC leaders around the state. Interestingly, he also added that “Bengal needs truth before reconciliation.”
But what is this truth that Bengal was repeatedly asked to forget? What wounds are yet to heal? The answer lies in the dark chapter that followed the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election results – a chapter that the Mamata Banerjee Government tried to deny and dismiss. Those who understood Bengal’s political reality knew what was happening. Victims knew it. Families who fled their homes knew it. Yet for years, there were determined attempts to portray the accounts of post-poll violence rape victims as exaggerations, political propaganda, or isolated incidents. The truth, however, has a way of resurfacing.
The Terrible Truths
What unfolded in Bengal after the 2021 poll results on May 2 was not merely political rivalry. Democracies often witness political bitterness, and opposition supporters frequently complain of discrimination by those in power. That, while unfortunate, is not uncommon. But what Bengal witnessed went far beyond political bias. For countless victims, it felt like organised political retribution. For years, these rape victims remained silent.
Not because they had nothing to say, but because they believed nobody would listen. In an atmosphere where fear outweighed hope, speaking out often seemed more dangerous than remaining silent.
I was in West Bengal during those turbulent days of 2021. I still remember the frantic phone calls, desperate appeals for help, and voices trembling with fear. Women wanted protection. Rape victims were unwilling to speak on camera amidst bone-chilling fear. I still remember those horrific tales of rapes, hearing from the victims who were kept in safe houses, later fearing that they would be murdered by alleged TMC goons.
I cannot forget the lines of Pinky Baj (name changed), a woman from a Scheduled Caste (SC) community, who was raped by TMC workers, just because she worked as a polling agent for the BJP. During the assault, attackers hurled filthy abuse at her, saying, “Khanki magi… jaise tumhari Hindu devi Kaali nangi hai, waise hi tumko nanga karenge (You bloody whore… just as your Hindu goddess kali is naked, we will strip you naked too).” Her only ‘crime’ was her political involvement and identity.
I met Pinky at a safe house in Kolkata in May 2021, while covering the aftermath of the post-poll violence. Her condition was dire – so much so that she could barely speak. Yet, despite her trauma, she summoned the strength to recount the horrors she had endured, sharing her story with me in halting, fragile words.
At the time, obtaining justice seemed almost impossible. In many places, even acknowledging that such violence had occurred appeared to be a struggle. Police were denying registering FIRs, and in many cases, doctors were denying treatment to the rape victims.
Curtains Lifted on TMC Horrors
But politics in Bengal changed in May 2026. Power equations have changed. And with that change, many victims have finally decided to speak. Like 2021, once again the Organiser team travelled across Bengal to listen to the rape victims, hoping that this time, more women would come forward and raise their voice for justice hitherto denied to them. What follows are testimonies – first-hand accounts of women who paid a heavy price for their political choices, their Hindu beliefs, or simply their for refusal to surrender to Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress.
It is important to hear the voices that were silenced for so long. Because reconciliation begins with truth. And truth begins by listening to the victims.
“Muslims Raped Me; Police denied FIR, Doctors Ignored My Pain”
The story of Reena Hansda (name changed) is not just the story of one victim. It is the story of an entire village that was gripped by fear in the aftermath of the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election results. Unlike many of the victims we met in Birbhum, Reena belongs to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community. Her family lived in a village where political violence became so intense that most of the men were forced to flee.
Five years later, Reena still struggles to recount what happened. According to her, the attack began when a group of armed men entered the village. Bombs were hurled across the area, throwing the entire village into panic and darkness. As fear spread, many men escaped to save their lives. The women were left behind. “It was a time when there were hardly any men in the village,” Reena recalled. “Most of them had fled out of fear.”
What followed was a period of terror. Several women in the village were subjected to atrocities. Reena suffered the worst. “Four to five men gang-raped me,” she said. But the trauma did not end there for her. After all that she went through, her family approached the police seeking justice, but they were turned away. Officers refused to register a complaint and dismissed the allegations completely. “We were told not to come here with what they called false allegations,” she shared.
Even when Reena was taken to a hospital in an unconscious condition, she did not receive proper treatment. “My parents were crying because I was not being treated properly,” she recalled. What stands out throughout Reena’s testimony is not only the violence she suffered but the climate of fear that followed. According to her, the family was repeatedly threatened and warned against speaking to anyone. “We were told that if we reported the matter anywhere, they would come to our house and kill all of us.”
The threats, she said, worked. For years, her family remained silent. “Out of fear, my parents could not speak about the incident to anyone.” According to Reena, the terror was so widespread that many men from the village could not return home for nearly six months. Some remained in hiding, while others stayed away for work, unwilling to risk coming back.
Speaking publicly for perhaps the first time, she said she wants only one thing: justice. “I want those miscreants to be punished.” Unlike other victims who were able to identify multiple alleged perpetrators, Reena said she could recognise only one individual. She named Khala Papori Kajal Sheikh as the person she believes was leading the group. “He was the main person behind everything. Whatever he said was carried out.” Beyond that, she said, most of the attackers had covered their faces. “I would not be able to identify them now. Their faces were covered with cloth.” As the conversation came to an end, Reena repeated a single demand. She was not asking for compensation. She was not asking for sympathy. She wanted accountability. “Those responsible must be punished.”
“Leave Village, or We Will Kill You”
Five years after the violence, one phrase still echoes in Ragini Mete’s (name changed) memory. Ragini, who belongs to Scheduled Caste (SC) community, her story begins on the night of the election results.
“You should not remain in this village anymore. Otherwise, we will kill you.” According to her, that warning was not issued by one angry individual. It came from a crowd that had already beaten her husband, torn her sari, vandalised her home and made it clear that her family’s support for the BJP would not be tolerated.
Ragini’s family had been associated with the BJP since 2013. On the night of 2 May 2021, she and her husband had gone to sleep after a long day connected with election duties. Everything seemed normal. Then, sometime around 9:30 or 10 pm, they were jolted awake by the sound of their door being smashed open.
She recalled hearing explosions outside. Men armed with sticks and other weapons stormed. “You are BJP people.” According to Ragini, the attackers immediately began assaulting her family. She was grabbed, dragged around and beaten. The injuries were severe enough to leave her requiring medical treatment for a long period afterwards. But the main target, she said, was her husband. As her children screamed from the veranda and her elderly mother-in-law cried helplessly, the attackers allegedly dragged her husband out of the house and beat him mercilessly.
Ragini remembers desperately trying to stop them. “They pulled him from one side, and I held on to him from the other.” The attackers eventually left, but the violence did not end there. Before leaving, they vandalised bicycles, broke household furniture, damaged the almirah and ransacked the house. The following morning, they returned. Only this time in even greater numbers.
She estimates that between fifty and one hundred people gathered outside the house. The crowd wanted to know one thing. “Is he still in the house?” By then, her children had already been moved to safety. Her husband, fearing for his life, was hiding inside. The crowd broke open the door and dragged him out once again. Standing between the mob and her husband, she pleaded with them. The attackers were not interested in listening. The message was clear: the family had to leave. “You should not remain in this village anymore. Otherwise, we will kill you.” Soon afterwards, Ragini and her husband were forced to leave their village.
As she recounted those events, she still remembers the faces of those she holds responsible. Among those she identified were Fulur’s son, Jalur’s son, Hriday Sheikh’s son and Bachai Sheikh. These were among the individuals who physically assaulted her husband and participated in the attack on the family. She added that the attackers were repeatedly shouting TMC slogan “Joy Bangla” during the violence. For Ragini, those slogans are inseparable from the memories of that night – the broken doors, the torn sari, the screams of her children, the beating of her husband and the threats that eventually forced her family from their home. Five years later, she still remembers the fear. But unlike 2021, she is no longer willing to remain silent.
“Beaten and Raped in Front of My 11-year-old daughter”
By the time I met a specially-abled victim, Rituparna Roy (name changed) in Bolpur, I had already listened to several victims. Every story was the same.
But Rituparna’s testimony stands apart for one reason. The people who attacked her had warned her beforehand that they would come. And when they finally did, they left behind a message that still haunts her family five years later. “Kill her. Then she won’t be able to speak.” In 2021, Rituparna Roy was serving as the BJP Mahila Morcha President of Nanur-1 Mandal. Even before the election results were declared, she said threats had begun.
While she was working as a polling agent at Booth No. 118, local TMC workers surrounded her house, threatened her family and warned her husband that his legs would be broken if he dared to vote. The threats soon became even more sinister. According to Rituparna, while returning home after polling, she was told that she would be raped. At the time, she hoped these were merely threats. She would soon discover otherwise.
On the day election results were announced, a group of TMC supporters passed by her house during the afternoon. Their warning was explicit. “We are coming back. Wait. All of us together will tear you apart.” Fearing an attack, she left her mud house and took shelter at the home of a neighbour. She stayed there with her children. Her husband also remained in hiding. That evening, around 8:40 pm, the attack began. The mob first vandalised her house before marching directly to the place where she was hiding. Someone had apparently informed them where she was. She recalled sitting beneath a staircase when the attackers entered. Within moments, they found her. “They grabbed me by my hair and dragged me out.”
Rituparna was thrown into the courtyard and brutally raped. She was beaten with iron rods, kicked repeatedly in the chest, stomach and back, and punched continuously. “Three Muslim men raped me in front of my 11-year-old daughter. The others continued beating me.” The assault was so severe that her hip and waist suffered permanent damage. Eventually, she lost consciousness. But before she blacked out, she remembered hearing the voices of her children. The children desperately tried to stop the attackers. “Please don’t do this to our mother. Don’t beat our mother.” Instead, according to Rituparna, the attackers assaulted the children as well.
Even the neighbour, whose only mistake was providing shelter, was beaten and her house vandalised. Then came the moment that Rituparna remembers most vividly. As she lay unconscious, one of the attackers pulled out a large Bhujali (Knife). According to her, the attacker said: “Kill her. Then she won’t be able to speak.” The attackers also threatened that if she ever told anyone about this, she and her family would be murdered.
Believing their mother was dead, Rituparna’s children began pleading with the attackers. “Our mother is dead. Please don’t hit her anymore. She won’t tell anyone anything. Please leave.” Eventually, the attackers left. But the terror did not.
One detail from Rituparna’s account offers a chilling glimpse into what happened that night. Just before the attackers entered the house, she had been speaking on the phone to a man named Montu Das. Desperate for help, she had called him and asked him to save the family. When the attackers arrived, they snatched the phone from her. But they never disconnected the call. The line remained active.
Montu Das heard the entire assault unfold over the phone. He heard the screams. He heard the beatings. He heard what was happening. Unable to bear listening any longer, he eventually disconnected the call. Yet even after the assault, the ordeal was not over. Around 10 pm that same night, Rituparna said the attackers returned. This time, there were nearly fifty of them. Instead of showing fear that their crimes would be exposed, she said they openly threatened to repeat everything. “You will see this happen again. We will come back and beat you again. If you speak, we will kill your children.”
Finally came the ultimatum heard in countless other testimonies from post-poll violence victims. “Leave the village.” But according to Rituparna, the threat came with a cruel twist. “Tell us where you are going to stay.” The message was clear. Even if they fled, they would never truly be safe. Five years later, Rituparna Roy still remembers every threat, every warning and every face from those days.
If Rituparna’s testimony tells the story of a victim, her husband’s testimony tells the story of helplessness. According to him, dozens of TMC supporters had surrounded the house. With no way to escape, he climbed onto the roof of their mud house and hid there. From that rooftop, he said, he heard everything.
When the attackers finally left, his children told him what had happened. The family desperately tried to take Rituparna to a hospital, but no vehicle was allowed to enter the village. Roads had effectively been blocked, and people were too frightened to help. The following morning, fearing for their lives, the family was forced to leave the village. He also revealed that later local TMC leaders and others attempted to influence what his wife would tell the police. “You will write exactly what I tell you,” he was told.
“My Father Was Beaten in One Room, I Was Raped in Another”
Sharmila (mentioned before) was an active BJP worker in 2021. She campaigned for the party and managed social media activities. On the evening of election results, her family had already decided to flee their home after receiving warnings.
Then came a phone call from an unknown number. “If you are still at home, leave immediately.” The family wanted to leave, but the rain delayed them by a few minutes. Those few minutes changed her life.
A group of local TMC workers entered her house. Her father tried to shield her. She recalled hearing the men ask, “Where is your daughter?” When her father attempted to stop them, he was beaten so brutally by the buttstock that he collapsed.
Among those who entered the house was Mamun Sheikh, whom she identified as a TMC leader and Deputy Pradhan of the Kankalitala Panchayat. She also named Hasan and several others. According to her testimony, while local Bengali TMC workers stood guard outside the house, seven Muslim men entered the residence.
What followed is one of the most disturbing narrations to emerge from the post-poll violence. Sharmila added that while her father was being beaten in one room, she was raped in another. She revealed that throughout the assault, the perpetrators repeatedly taunted her for supporting the BJP. “How dare you support the BJP?”
But Sharmita’s account does not end there. After all that happened, she decided to approach the police, but the woman police officer in-charge Kasturi asked her to compromise. The message was clear: if you live in Bengal, you cannot fight TMC.
As we continued speaking to Sharmila, another horrifying chapter emerged. She told us that this was not the first time she had been targeted. Years before the 2021 violence, local TMC workers mobilised a group of women who dragged her out of her home, tore her clothes, stripped her naked and paraded her through the village all the way to a Durga temple. What was worse was that the villagers watched as she was humiliated in public while her father was beaten. And when the police finally arrived, instead of helping her, one policeman made a remark so shocking that she remembers it even today. “Put your daughter into prostitution.”
Sharmila also named several local TMC leaders, including Alif Sheikh, Kajol Sheikh, whom she said were involved in mobilising the mob that attacked her family and publicly humiliated her.
But this didnt stop at assault; after she was stripped of her honour in 2021, efforts were made to influence her statements. She was forced to sign documents she was not allowed to read, pressured to repeat video statements multiple times until officials were satisfied, and taken through a process designed to weaken her case rather than strengthen it.
These are just a few of the horrific stories that Organiser has uncovered. Behind them lie the silent suffering of hundreds whose lives have been shattered and who continue to live in the shadow of trauma. The path to justice for these victims is long but the first step has already been taken.
Last year in July, Rafikul Islam, alias Bhelu Master, was sentenced to Life Imprisonment for sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl from Jalalpur village, Manikchak, on June 4, 2021. But justice still awaits for hundreds others and it will only happen if these women will come out and speak.
Though the outcome of 2026 Assembly Polls has shown the power of a silent revolution, which I observed during the 2026 Assembly Polls coverage. But this is not the time to stay silent. The post-poll spree of violence and rapes under the regime of should not be buried in the pages of history. We can only hope that one day other victims too, will find the strength, just as these courageous women have, to come forward and seek the justice they deserve.
