West Bengal tribal woman thrashed & stripped in public; NCW takes cognizance & seeks probe

In a key development, the National Commission of Women on Tuesday took cognizance of the incident where a woman was beaten, made to strip and parade in the Alipurduar district of West Bengal. Chairperson of the commission Rekha Sharma wrote to the police department probing the case, pulled them up for not taking action, and directed them to arrest the accused immediately. 

NCW takes suo moto cognizance of the West Bengal incident

NCW in the letter to the police wrote,"The national commission for women has yet again come across a media report captioned 'West Bengal: Woman in Alipurduar paraded naked, beaten up; three arrested' wherein it has been stated that a woman was paraded naked and brutally beaten up. Further, the report mentions that 3 accused are in police custody and 8 other accused named in the FIR are absconding. "

Pointing out that it is unable to comprehend atrocities perpetrated in the state of West Bengal, the commission condemned the 'pitiable' state of law and order in the state."There is undisputedly laxity and dereliction of duties on the part of the police in not taking immediate and prompt action in the matter", the commission wrote while highlighting that it is due to the negligence of the police that 8 of 11 accused absconded after committing the crime. "This shows the incapability of the state to ensure a safe and secure environment for women and the inability of the police to take immediate action in the case," it added. 

Directing the police to take immediate action, and arrest the accused, it further wrote, "The concerned SP of the Alipurduar district is also directed to appear virtually before the commission on June 16 at 12:30 pm to apprise the status update in the matter. The action taken must be communicated to the Commission at the earliest. "

Woman made to strip and parade in the Alipurduar district of West Bengal

In a shocking development, a group of villagers belonging to the tribal community tortured a tribal woman, tore open her clothes, and paraded her naked in Paschim Chengmar village in the Alipurduar district of West Bengal. The woman has allegedly left her husband recently and had gone with another man. However, she returned to her first husband who accepted her later. This did not go down well with the villagers, and they started protesting against the woman and allegedly started torturing him and this led to the unpardonable incident. 

The police informed that after the incident, the woman went to her father's house in Assam without taking any action, but the district police later brought her back and encouraged her to file a police complaint, on the basis of which, the police arrested six accused persons. 

(Credit-RepresentativeimageANI/NCW/Twitter)