Mamata Banerjee cites Hathras, Unnao in speech on anti-rape law: 'What if I shout slogans against PM Modi, Amit Shah…' | Mint

Kolkata doctor rape case: CM Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday lauded the West Bengal Anti-Rape Bill. Defending the TMC government in West Bengal and the Bengal Police, CM Mamata Banerjee said there is an abnormally high crime rate against women in 'states like Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat'.

“Nobody is talking about what happened in Unnao and the Hathras victim has not got justice…,” Mamata Banerjee said in the West Bengal Assembly.

The West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed the state's Anti-Rape Bill after the opposition BJP extended its full support. The Anti-Rape Bill proposes death penalty for the rapist if the victim is dead or in a vegetative state.

The legislation, titled 'Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024', aims to strengthen the protection of women and children by revising and introducing new provisions related to rape and sexual offences.

CM Mamata Banerjee lauded the Anti-Rape Bill and said she was thankful to the opposition parties for their support. “Though everyone is against me, I am not against them. I want to thank everyone in the fight for women's rights.”

The TMC supremo also recalled a 'historic event' and said, “I didn't know when I fixed the day, but history repeats itself. September 3 is a historic day in the struggle for women's rights. In 1981, it is the day that the United Nations convened the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination to protect the rights of women.”

“Once this Bill is passed, we will constitute a special Aparajita Task Force from the police to ensure that the investigation is completed on time,” the West Bengal Chief Minister said.

Kolkata doctor rape case: What did CM Mamata Banerjee say?

• “Rape is a curse against humanity, social reforms are needed to stop such crimes,” Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said in the assembly

• After the Anti-Rape Bill was introduced in the Bengal Assembly, CM Mamata Banerjee said, “The Opposition should request the Governor to sign the bill, it is our responsibility to implement it after that.”

• The CBI is currently investigating the case of rape and murder of the Kolkata doctor. “We want justice from the CBI, death by hanging of the culprits,” the Bengal CM noted.

• “Through this Anti-Rape Bill, we have tried to plug the loopholes that exist in the central legislation,” Mamata Banerjee said, criticising the Prime Minister Modi-led central government.

• “Bengal was not consulted before the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (which replaced the IPC) was adopted, we wanted to talk about this only after the formation of the new government,” CM Mamata Banerjee added.

• Abnormally high crime rates against women in states like UP, Gujarat; tortured women in Bengal getting justice in courts, CM Mamata said. She cited serious incidents of rape and murder, including the 2020 rape of a 20-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh; the 2013 rape and brutal murder of a girl student in North 24 Parganas' Kamduni, Bengal; and the recent attack on a child at a government-run hospital in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

• “What if I raise slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and HM Amit Shah for the same reasons you are raising slogans against me,” CM Mamata told BJP MPs in the Bengal Assembly

• “The anti-rape law is aimed at speedy investigation, speedy trial and stricter punishment,” Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee added.