‘Abuse by TMC backers led to my wife’s suicide’
The family of a 38-year-old politician in West Bengal alleged on Friday that she committed suicide following a litany of abuse by local TMC workers an hour after she suffered a shock defeat in the recently concluded municipal polls.
Supriya Dey, a former twotime Congress councillor who migrated to the ruling Trinamool Congress and contested as an independent candidate after being denied a ticket, allegedly killed herself when she lost the elections in ward 1 of Cooper’s Camp municipality in Nadia.
The results — that showed the Trinamool Congress has swept the polls across the state — were declared around 9am. By 10am, 25 youth allegedly descended on her house, kicked the door, banged on the grilles and showered abuse. This allegedly shocked Dey, who slipped into her room and popped sleeping pills.
“The youth came on motorbikes in a sort of rally that supporters take out to celebrate the victory of their candidates. My wife could not digest the abuses from supporters of the party for which she worked for so many years,” said husband Samir Dey.
Supriya lost to TMC’s Ashok Sarkar by 30 votes. Another former TMC worker, Prasanta Mondal, contested as an independent and won 179 votes, indicating that Supriya could have won if Mondal did not contest.
Supriya was taken to two hospitals — first the sub-divisional hospital in Ranaghat and then the JNM Hospital in Kalyani where doctors declared her dead around 2.30pm. Samir and Supriya, along with their only son Soumyadeep, were at home when the youth allegedly came to her house.
However, Sarkar, who won the polls, said: “No one humiliated her. Every contest throws up winners and losers. But that does not mean one has to end one’s life.”
Local residents said a group of about 100 young men hit the roads to celebrate Sarkar’s victory. “The abuses they shouted were unprintable and would hurt the dignity of any woman. They were protesting her audacity to contest against the TMC candidate,” said Samir, who has decided against lodging any formal complaint.