No cover-up by West Bengal govt: Mahua Moitra slams BJP of calling TMC women MPs "Gungi gudiya"

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], August 15 (ANI): Amid ongoing protest over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar hospital in Kolkata, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra on Thursday denied allegations of a cover-up in the case, stating that the opposition BJP accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and elected women representatives of being "Gungi gudiya" (mute dolls) is "absolutely wrong and incorrect."
"The story that is going around that the state government and most of all, the chief Minister and all of us who are elected representatives are indulging in some kind of systematic cover-up is absolutely wrong and incorrect. The Chief Minister was in Jhargram Medinipur when the incident happened. When she was informed about it she spoke to the family of the girl immediately. Upon her return to Kolkata, she went and visited them within 12 hours the police arrested the prime suspect on the basis of CCTV evidence," Moitra said.

We are in total solidarity with the outpouring of real grief and fear on the streets . But it is necessary to separate facts from false propaganda. @MamataOfficial pic.twitter.com/WLI5n908sg

— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) August 15, 2024

Moitra added that Mamata Banerjee, the only female Chief Minister in India, has always stood for women's causes, and there is no cover-up. She criticized the political narrative that TMC representatives are "Gungi gudiya" (mute dolls).
"There is no cover-up. Mamata Banerjee is the only lady Chief Minister in India and has always stood for women's causes. To somehow put a political leaning to this and say that all of us are Gungi gudiya (mute dolls) is some kind of political narrative that we had to face before and that we are going to fight back again," Moitra added.
Moitra's response comes after Union Minister and West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar said that not a single woman MP from TMC has spoken about the murder and rape of the doctor in Kolkata, adding despite being an alumni of the same medical college, two TMC MPs and three MLAs have been maintaining silence indicating that "something is amiss".
He also alleged that a particular TMC MP's nephew's name keeps coming up repeatedly in this case.
"In the doctor's team, many such topics have come up in their WhatsApp group, some screenshots of this have also reached us like drugs, racket, sex racket...One TMC MP's nephew's name keeps coming up repeatedly. I don't know what the truth is, but something seems off because despite so many women MPs from TMC, not a single one has spoken much after such a major incident. Two TMC MPs and three MLAs are alumni of the same medical college, yet they seem to have been silenced, indicating that something is amiss," Majumdar said.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari (BJP) wrote to the Home Secretary and Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, requesting deployment of Central Armed Paramilitary Forces to prevent further destruction of evidence at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
"I have written to the Hon'ble Home Secretary; Ministry of Home Affairs; Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Hon'ble Director, Central Bureau of Investigation, regarding the vandalism that took place at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital and requested them to deploy Central Armed Paramilitary Forces to prevent further destruction of evidence at R G Kar," Adhikari said in a post on X.

The WB Govt & @KolkataPolice have turned RG Kar Medical College and Hospital into a stinky quagmire by firstly allowing culprits to establish their fiefdom of crime and now allowing TMC goons to stomp upon the whole premises to destroy evidence (whatever was left of it) and scare… pic.twitter.com/5xQ5BljoGE

— Suvendu Adhikari (@SuvenduWB) August 15, 2024

Adhikari's request follows the vandalism at the hospital on Wednesday night, where a mob caused damage to the protest site, vehicles, and public property. Security officials intervened to disperse the crowd.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) on Thursday announced that they have decided to resume its strike to protest the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata.
As nationwide anger emerges over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar medical college and Hospital in Kolkata, former chief of Delhi Commission for Women Swati Maliwal has written a letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to ensure severe punishment for the accused and also for those who are trying to save them.
"The inhuman atrocities inflicted upon this young woman have brought shame upon humanity and triggered widespread protests across the country. As someone who has long advocated for the protection of women's rights, I have been following this case with close attention, and the more I learn, the deeper my revulsion grows," Swati Maliwal wrote in a letter to the West Bengal CM.
Earlier today, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that the Left is colluding with the Ram (the Bharatiya Janata party) to create unrest in West Bengal.
"Left and Ram want to create unrest in Bengal and they both have come together to do this," She said while referring to the vandalism at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata on Wednesday.
The Bengal chief minister said that the mob were not connected to the student movement and alleged that "they are BJP people" who created a ruckus inside the emergency ward of the hospital.
"The people who vandalised RG Kar Hospital yesterday and created this ruckus are not connected to the student movement of RG Kar Medical College, they are outsiders, I have seen as many videos, I have three videos as I can see, in which some people are holding national flags, they are BJP people, and some are DYFI are holding white and red flags," CM Banerjee said.
Doctors at Safdarjung Hospital and AIIMS in Delhi rallied over the RG Kar incident, while medical students in Kolkata also staged protests on Thursday.
Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan also came forward to express his deep anger and concern on social media over the incident.
On his X account, Roshan wrote, "Yes we need to evolve into a society where we ALL feel equally safe. But that is going to take decades. It's going to hopefully happen with sensitizing and empowering our sons and daughters. The next generations will be better."
"We will get there. Eventually. But what in the interim ? Right now justice would be to put a hard stop to such atrocities. And the only way to do that is a punishment so harsh that it scares the living daylights out of such perpetrators. That's what we need. Perhaps? I stand with the victim's family in seeking justice for their daughter and I stand with all the Doctors that were attacked last night," his post further read.
Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Crime Branch in Kolkata on Thursday summoned five doctors and hospital staff for questioning in connection with the RG Kar Hospital rape and murder case.
The incident has triggered a nationwide protest by doctors and medical fraternities after a post-graduate trainee doctor was found dead in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. The victim's family has alleged rape and murder. (ANI)