TMC leader arrested for ‘raping’ woman

Asit Hazra told me that since I did not give him the money, he would take my honour. He also threatened me that if I disclosed the matter to the police or villagers, he will kill my family members... COMPLAINANT

A Trinamool Congress leader in West Bengal’s Nandigram was arrested on Monday after a woman in her mid-thirties accused him of raping her and alleged she was sexually assaulted as she refused to pay him a ‘bribe’ — part of the loan she got under a scheme to fund housing for the poor.

“We arrested (Asit) Hazra on Monday night from a relative’s house,” said Alok Rajoria, superintendent of police of East Midnapore district. The incident took place on September 30 in Subdi village of Amdabad area in Nandigram and the complaint was lodged on October 2.

The medical examination of the woman was conducted on October 3 that confirmed rape. The confidential statement of the mother of two children was also recorded in Haldia. According to her complaint to the police, the 45-year-old leader took advantage of the fact that the area was deserted as the villagers had gone to attend a neighbour’s funeral.

She said Hazra grabbed her and dragged her to the first-floor room of a local club and raped her. The complaint stated that Hazra was angry after she refused to pay him ₹10,000 of the ₹40,000 loan that she got under the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY).

“Asit Hazra told me that since I did not give him the money, he would take my honour. He also threatened me that if I disclosed the matter to the police or villagers, he will kill my family members. He also said that I would be implicated in false cases,” the woman, whose husband is a daily wage earner, alleged.

Nandigram is a milestone in the history of Trinamool Congress as it proved to be the end of the 34-year old Left Front government in the eastern. It hit the headlines after 14 villagers fell to police bullets in March 2007. The villagers were resisting the attempts of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government to acquire 10,000 acres for an SEZ.

Trinamool leaders said no one from the party could be involved in “such a heinous crime”. “I don’t know why the woman and some outsiders are levelling false allegations. We are the only party which respects women,” said Mahim Gayen, a party leader and gram panchayat pradhan of Amdabad. “However, the law will take its own course and police will conduct a proper probe,” Ranjit Mondal, MLA of Khejuri constituency, said.