Nude body of suspected rape and murder victim triggers tension in Malda

Kolkata: Amid continuing tension in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali over protests by local women alleging sexual harassment, similar tension was triggered at Mothabari in Madla district on Thursday after the recovery of a nude body of a suspected rape and murder victim from a corn field there.

Initial investigation suggests that the woman was first raped and then hacked to death after which her body was dumped in the corn field.

The exact cause of death will be ascertained after the post-mortem report comes, which will also confirm if she was raped.

The victim's father works as a sharecropper. Her family members said that she was missing since late Wednesday evening.

“We started looking for her and continued the search till late in the night night. On Thursday morning, as we were about to file a missing person's complaint with the local police, we were informed about the recovery of her body from a corn field. We have registered complaints with the local police in the matter,” said the victim's brother.

Meanwhile, BJP’s IT cell chief and observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, has launched a scathing attack against the state government and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the incident.

“West Bengal under Mamata Banerjee has become hell for women… Not a day goes when a woman is not raped or murdered. The brutality of the crime is often so spine-chilling that one can’t sleep for days.

"But nothing affects Mamata Banerjee, as long as she keeps getting votes… No criminal is ever prosecuted because they are almost always affiliated to the ruling TMC,” Maliviya tweeted.

“Bengal is witnessing anarchy. The Chief Minister and her criminal police force have not only failed to provide any sense of security to women, but are also actively working to deny justice to the victims. Mamata Banerjee is a curse for the women of West Bengal,” Malviya added.