From ‘Aurangzeb’ to ‘mother figure’: Durgapur victim's father seeks justice from Mamata Banerjee
He had earlier reacted angrily to Mamata Banerjee's remarks raising questions at why the student was out at night
The Durgapur case in West Bengal which a 23-year-old medical student has alleged rape saw its latest turn on Wednesday evening when the woman's father issued an apology for chief minister Mamata Banerjee, whose rule he'd compared to Mughal ruler Aurangzeb's reign.
"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, as per news agency PTI.
What the father said on CM
He had earlier reacted angrily to Mamata Banerjee's remarks raising questions at why the student was out “late 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 referring to his home state.
He also demanded an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which reports to the BJP-led union government.
This had further added fuel to the political slugfest over the case.
How the case has changed
The father's new reaction comes when the police have pointed towards holes in the second-year MBBS student's version of events. She has alleged that she was raped by multiple men after dragging her to a forested area when shad gone out of the private medical college campus with a male friend to get food around 8 pm on October 10.
But the police have since 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 has reported. Police had found “glaring inconsistencies” in his statements too.
Now the police believe only one person carried out the crime, hence this won't be gangrape but still a rape case.
Police also said the CCTV footage showed the survivor returning to campus with her friend, “her clothes intact, walking calmly”, and without seeking help from security personnel at the gate, adding there should have been evidence if the woman was "dragged" through a jungle and gangraped.
