The father of the Durgapur rape survivor has had an apparent change of heart in two days about Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
“Mamata Banerjee is like a mother-like figure to me. If I have said anything wrong, I ask her to forgive me. I will render countless obeisance at her feet,” the father told newspersons in Durgapur, a day after the survivor’s friend was arrested by the Durgapur police in connection with the case.
The reason behind the immediate change of opinion in the distraught father’s mind is unclear.
On Sunday before leaving for her five-day trip to flood-affected north Bengal, Mamata had questioned why the survivor had stepped out of the hostel past midnight.
Criticising the chief minister’s comment, the father had said, “It seems Bengal is under the rule of Aurangzeb. I want to take my daughter back to [Odisha]. Her life comes first, career later.”
He had also alleged the police had delayed launching the probe into their daughter’s rape.
When leader of Opposition in the Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari went to meet the parents in Durgapur on Monday, the father had complained that he was not being informed about her daughter’s condition.
He also expressed unhappiness with the progress in the police probe, though on Sunday, two days after the crime, three of the alleged perpetrators had been taken into custody.
Over the last two days, three others including a friend of the survivor were arrested. The chief minister Odisha, where the family is from, had also spoken with them though Mamata herself has neither spoken to nor sent any of her representatives to Durgapur to assuage the family.
The father insisted on taking his daughter back home once the doctors declared her fit for travel.
“It is obvious that the father had come under the BJP’s influence,” said a Trinamool leader. “It is an unfortunate incident. The police have made tremendous progress in the investigation. All the accused will be punished. He must have seen the efforts made by the Bengal police and realised his mistake.”
The Durgapur police had said on Tuesday that the family was receiving all assistance from them and investigation was on in full swing.
