Political blame game begins over Bengal ragging death

The death of a minor girl student after being ragged and the subsequent ransacking of a school in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district took on a political colour Sunday after the ruling Trinamool Congress attributed the vandalism to "CPI-M's conspiracy".

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) rubbished the allegations and in turn blamed the Trinamool for the fiasco.

Oindrila Das, a class 5 student of Christ Church School in Dum Dum, died Sep 11, a week after she was allegedly locked up inside the school toilet by some of her seniors who demanded money from her.

A day later, the 131-year old institution witnessed unprecedented scenes as hundreds of people -- mostly parents -- ransacked the institution, holed up the principal and other teachers inside a dark room and eventually forced the principal Helen Sarkar to resign.

Twelve people have been arrested for the vandalism.

"The death of the girl is unfortunate, but the CPI-M is behind the ransacking and they have done it in pursuance of their conspiracy to malign the (state) government," said Trinamool general secretary Mukul Roy.

Rubbishing Roy's claims, CPI-M central committee member Mohammad Salim instead pointed the finger at the Trinamool, saying it was only part of a series of attacks that have been carried out on educational institutions under the two-year-old regime.

"The Trinamool has now perfected its knack of blaming us for all its evils. If they were so concerned, why did the administration prefer to be a mute spectator when the vandalism was going on? It is only a part of series of attacks that the Trinamool has been carrying out on educational institutions," said Salim.

The Congress too joined in accusing the ruling party of harbouring and patronising goons.

"Such comments coming from the ruling party will only embolden the goons. What can you expect from a party which is known for patronising goons," said Congress leader Abdul Mannan.

The state has witnessed a spate of campus violence in the last two years.