Krishnagar, Aug. 10: A 30-year-old woman has told police that a farmer she had spurned lifted her on his back in a busy Nadia market and took her away as people watched. He then raped her for an hour.

The woman, a widow and the mother of two girls, said none of the villagers present in the market around 9.30 last night stepped in and stopped Subodh Ghosh when she cried for help.

The widow, who sells vegetables in the Banpur village market in Krishnagunj, about 120km from Calcutta, told police that Subodh, a 40-year-old well-to-do married farmer, had earlier made advances that she had snubbed.

The woman, whose husband died in a road accident five years ago, said she was leaving the market for home when Subodh, who was also from her village Banpur, blocked her path.

“He asked me to come with him. When I refused, he lifted me on his shoulders and began walking down the market road. I cried for help. There were many people, but they did not come to my rescue.”

He took her to a garden, about 300m from the market, gagged her and then raped her.

“Subodh stuffed a piece of cloth into my mouth and raped me,” the woman said. “After an hour, he fled and I came home in great pain.”

The police have questioned some of the villagers who were in the market last night. They said they were scared to pick up a fight with Subodh because he was “rich”.

“Subodh wields influence in the area and hobnobs with local politicians. Also, many villagers work as labourers on his land,” said a police officer.

The woman told the police that two villagers walking past the garden saw Subodh raping her. “They raised an alarm but when Subodh threatened them, they fled. The widow also told us that he had been harassing her for the past six months,” the officer said.

The widow said she did not tell her daughters, aged 6 and 12, anything but told her sister, staying next door, this morning.

Both went to Kanika Das, a panchayat member in Banpur, and told her everything.

Das took her to Krishnagunj police station where the woman lodged an FIR.

“I was stunned when I heard her story. How could people be so inhuman and cowardly? They did not even try to rescue her from Subodh’s clutches,” said Kanika.

The officer in charge of the Krishnagunj police station, Nihar Roy, said a rape case has been registered against Subodh.

“He is yet to be traced. We have launched a hunt for him,” said Roy.

Roy said the woman had been sent for a medical test at the Krishnagar district hospital.