A Trinamul Congress anchal president of West Midnapore's Narayangarh was accused of raping and torturing a BJP worker inside the local TMC office on Sunday, prompting Bengal's ruling party to seek a detailed report from its district unit on Monday.
"The incident has embarrassed the party as the alleged rape took place inside the party office. There have also been several earlier allegations involving different issues against this particular anchal president," said a senior TMC leader and MLA from West Midnapore while speaking to this newspaper at the Assembly on Monday.
"The state leadership has sought a detailed report about the incident and the accused leader from us," the MLA added.
The husband of the 37-year-old BJP worker from West Midnapore lodged a police complaint, claiming his wife was raped and tortured inside a local TMC party office by the anchal president who had "asked" her to visit the office to submit a written declaration about "quitting the saffron camp".
The woman was initially taken to a local hospital and later to the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital for her medical tests.
The accused leader, however, denied the charges. He accused the BJP worker and her associates of falsely implicating him, claiming he was injured in a sudden attack by her.
"Police have received two separate complaints and are looking into the allegations," said West Midnapore police chief Dhritiman Sarkar.
Opposition parties, especially the BJP, have pounced on this incident as a fresh opportunity to criticise the state's law and order, particularly women's safety.
Agnimitra Paul, a senior BJP leader and Asansol MLA, accused the police of attempting to suppress the matter.
"My sister (the BJP worker) was raped and tortured inside the TMC party office. The police, particularly SP Dhritiman Sarkar, who is acting like a ruling party leader, have been trying to prove it was not rape," Paul said.
On Monday, Paul staged a protest in front of the West Midnapore DM office, demanding justice for the victim. The police, however, forcibly removed the protesters from the street.
A BJP source said the party wanted to take the victim to a central government-run hospital like AIIMS, Kalyani, as they feared the state government and police might attempt to establish that the woman was not raped.
However, a TMC leader countered this, saying that as primary findings suggested there had been no rape, the BJP wanted to take the woman to a central government hospital.
On Monday, the National Commission for Women (NCW) took cognisance of the alleged rape incident in West Midnapore.
"@NCWIndia has taken cognizance of a complaint of rape in West Midnapore district, where a woman was allegedly raped in a party office. We are closely monitoring the case, and necessary directions have been given to the SP@westmdppolice for immediate action. Ensuring justice for the victim is our priority," NCW member Archana Majumdar wrote on her X handle on Monday evening.
Majumdar also shared the social media post on this issue put up by the leader of the Opposition and Nandigram BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari.