Sandeshkhali: Here's What Women Accuse TMC Workers Of While West Bengal Police Claims "No Allegations" Of Rape

While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is targeting the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) government over the Sandeshkhali protests, here is what the victim women allege against the TMC workers.

Sandeshkhali is a place within West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district. Several women here had been protesting for the last few days over the alleged atrocities against them by TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his aides.

Shajahan Sheikh is the same leader who is on the run after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided him in an alleged ration scam. The ED officers also faced assault and an FIR was registered against them.

According to Indian Express, these women gathered the courage to speak out after Sheikh disappeared from the area. They were also hesitant to file a police complaint as they believed the state machinery was with the accused.

A molestation case was registered against TMC’s North 24 Parganas zilla parishad member Uttam Sardar and others, leading to Sardar's arrest and his suspension from the party on 12 February.

The allegations include calling women for late-night meetings and inappropriately touching them and pulling their saree. Most of these women are in their 20s and allege that this has been going on since 2020.

These women were part of Self-Help Groups (SHG) and were called on the pretext of SHG meetings. A list was kept and the woman who skipped the "meeting" was pressurised by other means to appear there.

These women then shared their complaints with Governor CV Anand Bose when he visited the place on 12 February. Calcutta High Court has also taken suo motu cognisance of the allegations and the hearing is scheduled for 20 February.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Police issued a clarification on X on Wednesday (14 February) saying that media reports are misleading and "no allegations about the rape of women have so far been received".

However, when Swarajya's Jaideep Mazumdar visited Sandeshkhali, he found a woman who accused a TMC leader of rape and said he was left after a few months. She is a mother of a boy aged six and a daughter aged three.

One can think of reasons like a lack of trust in the police or fear of TMC workers or a feeling of shame for being a rape victim that West Bengal police has not received a single rape complaint.