The incident took place in Bogravita panchayat on June 29, a day after a woman along with a man was flogged in public by a local Trinamool Congress functionary over similar allegations in Chopra block of the neighbouring Uttar Dinajpur district.
The woman’s husband said, “My wife ended her life by drinking some poisonous substance after some women from the village beat her up in front of the panchayat. I complained to the police that my wife died because of these women as she could not bear the humiliation of being summoned to the kangaroo court and being beaten up publicly.” It was alleged that the woman had an extramarital affair with a youth and had gone missing from her home 10 days ago. At that time, her husband lodged a complaint of her disappearance at New Jalpaiguri police station.
However, her whereabouts were found last Saturday and she returned home, it is learnt. “Once she came back, my wife was summoned by the panchayat head and TMC leader Malati Roy and her husband Shankar Roy. When we went there, their supporters started assaulting me and my wife,” the husband said.
Malati and Shankar Roy, however, denied the allegation of holding a salishi sabha (kangaroo court). Shankar Roy said, “They were to file a police complaint but they instead came to the panchayat. This woman had earlier eloped with another youth. It was probably due to this that their neighbours called and beat her up. We were not even present there. I reached there when the meeting was going on and the woman said she was going to the washroom. After a while we came to know that she drank acid.”
New Jalpaiguri police station Officer Incharge Nirmal Das said, “Based on two complaints — one by the deceased’s husband and her brother — four persons have been arrested.”
Slamming Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government, BJP MLA Shikha Chatterjee said, “ Most of the women are oppressed during her rule. The CM should resign immediately. It is a heinous crime to summon someone to a kangaroo court and beat them up.”
However, TMC spokesperson Jayprakash Majumder said, “Such incidents are social problems. They should not be politicised. All political parties should come forward to bring such incidents to an end.”
Earlier, TMC was slammed by the BJP and CPM over the Uttar Dinajpur incident in which a TMC functionary was captured on camera flogging a woman and a man publicly.