Mamata terms Durgapur ‘gangrape’ shocking, says no accused will be spared

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday termed the alleged gangrape of a medical student in Durgapur in Paschim Bardhaman district as “shocking” and said that no accused would be spared.

Speaking to reporters at Kolkata airport before leaving for natural disaster-hit north Bengal to oversee relief and rehabilitation work, Banerjee said her government has zero tolerance for such incidents.

“This is a shocking incident… We have zero tolerance for such crimes. Three accused have been arrested and police are conducting search for others. Nobody will be spared,” she said in her first reaction to the incident.

The medical college student, hailing from Jaleswar in Odisha’s Balasore district, was allegedly gangraped in Durgapur, police said on Saturday.

The incident took place outside the campus of the private medical college on Friday night when the second-year student went out with one of her friends for dinner.

Banerjee said the medical institution concerned also bears responsibility for the incident.

“Private colleges must ensure security within and around their campuses,” she said.

The TMC supremo also said female boarders, especially those from outside the state, should follow hostel rules and not venture out late at night.

“Students staying in hostels, especially those who have come to West Bengal to study from outside, are expected to follow the rules of the hostels. They should avoid venturing out late at night, although they have the fundamental right to go wherever they want,” she said.

The police have certain logistical limitations in monitoring the movement of every individual, Banerjee said. “Officers would not know who is leaving home at night and cannot stand guard outside every home.”

The chief minister also questioned the “selective outrage” over such crimes, drawing comparisons with similar cases in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha.

“We condemn all such incidents wherever it takes place. We have seen so many cases in Bihar, UP and Odisha. In Bengal, we do not tolerate such crimes. We take them very seriously,” she asserted.

“In UP, victims are set on fire while going to court… In Odisha, girls were raped at a sea beach – what action has been taken there?” Banerjee said.

In an indirect reference to the RG Kar Medical College doctor’s rape-murder case of 2024, she said, “In our state, the accused was charge-sheeted within a month and the lower court has already announced a death sentence.”