Durgapur rape victim's father apologises to ‘mother-like’ Mamata Banerjee after ‘Aurangzeb rule’ remark
The comments from the father of Durgapur rape victim come just two days after he claimed that West Bengal is under "Aurangzeb's rule".
The father of the 23-year-old medical student who has alleged rape in Durgapur Wednesday described West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee as a “mother-like figure” and urged the Trinamool Congress supremo to “forgive him” and help his daughter get justice.
The comments come just two days after he said West Bengal was under "Aurangzeb's rule".
"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 obeisances at her feet. But I ask her to help my daughter get justice," the father told the media.
The ‘Aurangzeb rule’ remark
It was on Monday that he criticised Mamata Banerjee's remarks on his daughter's case. The CM had said that “women should not venture out at night”.
"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 said.
The father remained firm on taking his daughter back home to Odisha once the doctors who are treating her declared her fit. He also demanded an investigation into the case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
"I think that would be good. But that depends on the state administration as well," he said.
The Durgapur rape case
The second-year MBBS student was allegedly raped when she had gone out of the private medical college campus with a male friend to fetch food on the evening of October 10.
The investigation into the alleged rape took a dramatic turn on Tuesday after the Bengal police arrested her male classmate, the sixth person to be held in the case, and claimed that the assault appeared to have been carried out by a single accused, HT reported earlier.
Police have so far arrested six people — including the friend in the latest twist to the case — for their alleged involvement in the crime, which has sparked a huge political uproar in the state.
The classmate, a resident of Malda district, was detained on October 11 and arrested on Tuesday after investigators found “glaring inconsistencies” in his statements.
His arrest came hours after Asansol-Durgapur Police commissioner Sunil Kumar Choudhary ruled out gangrape, saying, “Investigation and medical reports have so far indicated the involvement of only one person. The roles of the others are being reviewed. The friend of the victim is not above suspicion.”
