Kolkata: People protested on the streets of Kolkata, women government staff took out a march at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s seat of power, and web users poured scorn on her yesterday, a day after she shouted back at demonstrators in a village while on a visit to the house of a gang rape-murder victim.
Joining angry women, youths, rights organisations and college and school students held rallies and processions, and leading lights of the civil society, including Magsaysay award winner Mahasweta Devi and film-maker Mrinal Sen urged the masses to take part in a proposed march on June 21 demanding justice for the Barasat gang rape victim and against crimes against women.
Banerjee had on Monday gone to North 24 Parganas district’s Kamduni village, the residence of a second-year college student who was abducted, gang-raped and killed by a group of youths on June 7 when she was returning home after appearing in an examination.
However, the visit turned sour after a group of women asked her to talk to them and shouted slogans about lack of security.
The chief minister lost her cool and told the villagers to “shut up”. She also branded the perpetrators of the crime, as well as the protesters, as “CPI-M people”.
At the state secretariat, which houses the chief minister’s office, women employees yesterday marched down the corridors in silence, holding placards that said “We want justice” and “Shame”.
Angry netizens assailed Banerjee for her behaviour at Kamduni village, with the user of a social networking site telling her to “shut up and do some work”.
IANS
