Drunk men harassed and chased a 26-year old woman Sunday night for around 19 kilometers, resulting in the victim’s car crashing and killing her on the Durgapur Expressway, raising questions on the safety of women in Bengal once again.
The victim, Sutandra Chattopadhyay, a resident of Hooghly’s Chandernagore and employed with an event management company, was on her way to Gaya in a car with some companions.
Some drunk men who were in another vehicle spotted Sutandra’s car at a petrol pump in Burdwan’s Budbud, around 140km north-west of Kolkata, and passed lewd comments. According to Burdwan police, after the victim’s vehicle headed for Panagarh the other vehicle started chasing it, the men continuing with the barrage of abuses.
Attackers' car/ Videograb
At Panagarh, the stalkers repeatedly hit the car that the victim was travelling in, then overtook it and blocked the way by hitting on the front side.
Desperate to get away, the driver of the victim’s vehicle took a left turn at Panagarh’s Rice Mill Road and lost control immediately. The car hit a grocery store, a public toilet and machine parts lying around before turning turtle.
Sutandra was killed on the spot. Her companions sustained minor injuries and were rushed to a hospital. By the time a team from the Kanksa police station reached the spot, the miscreants had fled leaving behind their vehicle.
victim's car/ Videograb
A manhunt has been launched for the miscreants, while the cops are also tracing their route via the CCTV footage.
“We were at the petrol pump when these youths made a pass at her. From then on they started following us and tried to push us off the road,” Mintu Mandal, who was injured, was quoted as saying.
The driver of the victim’s car, Rajdeo Sharma, was quoted as having said that the goons had pushed his vehicle to the left of the road while repeatedly trying to overtake. “They kept chasing us on the road, sometimes from the left and sometimes from the right. They even tried to push us towards the divider,” he said.
Abhishek Gupta, deputy commissioner at the Asansol-Durgapur police commissionerate, said a search for the men was ongoing.
“We have seized their vehicle. They are probably locals and could not have fled far on foot,” Gupta said.
Trinamul spokesperson Kunal Ghosh claimed on Monday evening, the Burdwan police has stated there was no eve-teasing involved in the Panagarh incident.
"The cops could not find any eve teasing angle in their probe. Overtaking led to the incident on the highway. Some vested interests tried to link this with the law and order situation in the state to create a fake narrative," said Ghosh.