Another Bengal rape victim offered money to 'settle issue'

In yet another incident of a kangaroo court "justice", a rape victim in West Bengal's Burdwan district was offered Rs.1 lakh to "settle the issue" and not to approach the police.

The woman, a resident of Purbasthali in the district, 90 km from Kolkata, refused to budge and following her complaint her attacker was arrested Thursday and remanded in judicial custody.

"He (accused) used to repeatedly rape me, and threatened to kill my son and husband if I opened my mouth. But, I later confided in my husband who then related the incident to the villagers. The villagers then assembled to do justice and offered me Rs.1 lakh to settle the issue," said the woman.

But, the woman filed a complaint with the police who arrested Inai Mallick - an insurance agent - and presented him in court which remanded him in judicial custody.

"I want punishment for him. I want to see him hanged. That is why I filed the complaint," said the woman. She also alleged the police turned her away when she initially approached them.

Burdwan Superintendent of Police S.M.H. Meerza, however, rubbished the woman's claim of police inaction.

"We promptly arrested the accused after the woman filed the complaint. We interrogated him for hours and then presented him before a court which remanded him in judicial custody," said Meerza.

This case comes close on the heels of the brutal gang rape of a 20-year-old tribal woman Monday night allegedly on the orders of a kangaroo court in Subalpur village of Birbhum district, 180 km from Kolkata. The abhorring mass rape of the woman evoked nationwide outrage.

The woman was allegedly violated by over a dozen men after the village kangaroo court held her "guilty" of having an affair with a man outside her community. As many as 13 people have now been arrested for the incident.