'Factually incorrect, strict laws exist': Centre writes back to Mamata Banerjee over Kolkata horror
Union Women and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi on Friday replied to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s second letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterating her earlier demand for strict punishment for heinous crimes such as rape and rape-murder. Read full letter here.
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FollowThe Centre reacted on Friday to Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's second letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which requested stricter national legislation and exemplary punishment for heinous crimes including as rape and murder. The government lambasted the Trinamool Congress president, claiming that the facts in her letter looked to be a tactic to "cover up delays".
In a letter to Mamata Banerjee, Union Women and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi stated that the Bengal government has not established an extra 11 Fast Track Special Courts (FTSC) to handle instances of rape and sexual assault against minors.
The Centre further notified the state government of the existence of strong legal frameworks and precedent-setting penalties for crimes against women, including rape, and encouraged them to be followed "in letter and spirit".
Devi wrote in the letter, a copy of which was posted in her X account, that "despite the pendency of 48,600 rape and POCSO cases in West Bengal, the state has not operationalised additional 11 FTSCs which may be exclusive POCSO courts or combined FTSCs dealing with both rape and POCSO cases, as per the state's requirement."
Earlier on Friday, Banerjee wrote to PM Modi for the second time, reiterating her request for stringent central legislation and exemplary punishment for heinous crimes like rape and murder. In response to the widespread outcry over the August 9 rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the chief minister of West Bengal also wrote to the prime minister on the same subject. Banerjee has demanded that rape and murder cases be given a deadline for resolution.
Devi's letter to Banerjee came amid nationwide outrage over the rape and murder of the trainee doctor, whose semi-naked body was found in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. The next day, Sanjoy Roy, a civil volunteer with Kolkata Police, was arrested and sent to judicial custody till September 6.
