A day after West Bengal assembly unanimously passed the Aparajita anti-rape Bill, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of politicising the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata and expressed his disappointment over the state government’s delay in operationalising Fast-Track Special Courts (FTSCs) to expedite the trial of rape and POCSO Act cases in the state.
In a social media post on ‘X’, the minister shared a letter from 2021 addressed to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, urging her to establish and operationalise the earmarked FTSCs.
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The letter, dated back to May 2021, highlighted the critical need for these courts, especially with over 28,559 rape and POCSO cases pending in the state at the time.
“I feel sad that Chief Minister of West Bengal ignored her most sacred duty of providing quick Justice for women & children. This letter of 2021 clearly shows it. In 2018, a stringent law was passed by- Parliament to deal with heinous crimes like Rape.. State Govts must act!” he wrote.
Advising the Bengal CM not to make it a political issue, Rijiju further asserted that strong laws alone are not enough, and timely and decisive action is crucial.
“Very strong laws are necessary but strong actions are more important. When the letter was written, media had carried this news extensively, but West Bengal Govt failed to act!” he added.
His remarks come a day after the West Bengal Assembly unanimously passed the Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024, amid outrage over the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College.
The bill aims to introduce stringent measures to address crimes against women and children in the state.
It has a provision of death penalty for rape in case of victim’s death or if she is left in a vegetative state due to the incident and life sentence without parole in other cases of rape.
