A 38-year-old teacher was allegedly dragged out of her home, beaten, and molested on the road by a group of men participating in a Kali Puja immersion procession in Garia late on Thursday night. The men allegedly threatened to rape her if she reported the assault to police.
Her fault? She had asked the men not to burst firecrackers recklessly after a deafening chocolate bomb landed in their residential compound and exploded.
The incident occurred around 11.30pm. The woman, her husband — a businessman — and their 14-year-old son, a Class IX student, were on the ground floor outside their building, seeing off guests who had come for Bhai Phota, when the explosion occurred near them.
This festive season, Calcutta has witnessed a spate of assaults where goons struck with impunity when asked to follow rules.
No one has been spared — women, men, or the elderly — anyone who tried to protest against unruly behaviour or cracker norm violations.
“We had some guests at home for Bhai Phota on Thursday night. They left in an app cab, and we were still on the ground floor outside our building, watching an immersion procession passing by. Suddenly, a chocolate bomb was thrown towards us and landed close to my wife’s feet before exploding,” said the woman’s husband.
The woman protested, asking the men who threw the firecracker to be careful.
“One of the men shouted back, ‘Sorry bolte hobe naki? (Do I have to say sorry for that?)’,” her husband said.
Before they could react, a group of men ganged up and started heckling the woman, the couple said.
“We managed to run upstairs, pulling the collapsible gate behind us. But the men kicked it open, broke in, and dragged her from our third-floor flat down the staircase,” the husband recounted.
The men allegedly dragged the woman out of her home, assaulted and molested her, and threatened her with rape. Her husband and son were pushed and shoved when they tried to intervene.
“All the while we were trying to contact the police. Some time later, two officers came, inspected the area, listened to us, and advised us to get our medical done before lodging a complaint,” the husband said.
The family went to a hospital, where the woman received a stitch on her lip and treatment for bruises. She was referred to another hospital.
“Surprisingly, some of the attackers were present at both hospitals. They kept threatening us with dire consequences if we lodged a formal complaint. We managed to complete the medical part only because the police provided protection,” the husband said.
The family filed a written complaint at the police station on Friday.
Members of the Kali Puja committee, whose participants were accused of the assault, denied the allegations and claimed the family had thrown bricks and chocolate bombs at the immersion procession.
Jayanti Ghosh, who was part of the procession, said an argument started when a cracker from their group landed near the woman’s foot. “When we were on our way to the ghat, we saw that the family was also bursting crackers. One of the crackers from our group fell near her foot... She grabbed the collar of one of our club members and demanded an apology,” she alleged.
“Later, the family went upstairs and threw bricks and chocolate bombs from their balcony,” Ghosh alleged.
She said that three people, including two children, were injured during the altercation. A nine-year-old girl was treated at Baghajatin State General Hospital. Her medical ticket read: “Physical injury after altercation, is otherwise okay.”
The club members said they would lodge a counter-case against the family.
The police said they were investigating the alleged assault and had asked the family to submit video footage showing men hurling bombs at their home.
No arrests had been made till Friday evening.