West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday called the Durgapur gang rape “shocking” and questioned how the medical student was allowed to leave campus at 12:30 am, urging private colleges to ensure student safety, especially in isolated areas.
Speaking to reporters at Kolkata airport before leaving for natural disaster-hit north Bengal to oversee relief and rehabilitation work, Banerjee said her government has zero tolerance for such incidents.
"This is a shocking incident... We have zero tolerance for such crimes. Three accused have been arrested and police are conducting search for others. Nobody will be spared," she said in her first reaction to the incident.
The chief minister raised questions about the student's exit from the campus at 12:30 am. She said, "Private medical colleges should not allow students, especially girls, to go out at night."
"I will also request the children of different states to not go out at night wherever they come to study. Because the police cannot know who is going out and when. The police will not sit around going from house to house," she further said.
"Students staying in hostels, especially those who have come to West Bengal to study from outside the state, are expected to follow the rules of the hostels. They should avoid venturing out late at night, although they have the fundamental right to go wherever they want," Banerjee added.
She also questioned how the student managed to leave the private medical college in Durgapur at night. Banerjee said, "She was studying in a private medical college. Whose responsibility is this? How did she come out at 12.30 at night? The private medical college should take care of its students. It is a forest area."
The medical college student, hailing from Jaleswar in Odisha's Balasore district, was raped by some men in Durgapur, police said on Saturday.
The incident took place outside the campus of the private medical college on Friday night when the second-year student went out with one of her friends for dinner.
Banerjee said that the institution of which the woman is a student also bears responsibility for the incident.
"Private colleges must ensure security within and around their campuses," she said.
Three people have been arrested, and one is detained on Sunday morning in connection with the crime. The three arrested have been identified as Apu Bauri (21), Firdos Sekh (23), and Sekh Reajuddin (31). The male friend accompanying the survivor is also under the scanner, police sources have said.
The opposition BJP has ripped into the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government over the Durgapur incident.
BJP MLAs, led by Durgapur West legislator Lakshman Ghorui, organised a sit-in demonstration in front of Durgapur Township police station on Saturday, demanding justice for the victim.
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said, "Atrocities against women and their safety are major issues in Bengal, and we will not let this matter rest until Mamata Banerjee is ousted from power."
The CPM also staged a protest after the incident against the deteriorating law and order in Bengal. A CPM delegation met the authorities of the private medical college in Durgapur.
Hitting out at the BJP government in Odisha, Banerjee brought up cases of rape in the neighbouring state. "In Odisha, girls were raped on sea beaches. What action has been taken by the Odisha government?" she asked.
Trinamool accused the BJP of politicising the Durgapur incident, despite the police starting a probe as soon as the complaint was filed.
