The 37 year old Anglo-Indian woman who was gang raped in Park Street in 2012 died of multiple organ failure. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said after the occurrence that the case was a conspiracy to malign her government. Trinamool MP Kakoli Ghosh Dostidar had remarked that the incident was the result of a deal gone wrong between the woman and her clients. She later apologized to the Human Rights Commission for her thoughtless comment. Five youths accused of rape are in jail and two are absconding. An in-camera trial at the city sessions court began deliberations on January 31, 2015. Calcutta High Court has asked for the trial to be completed in three months. The charges against the accused are gang rape, violence and criminal intimidation. The maximum punishment is supposed to be life imprisonment. During the proceedings, Mamata Banerjee’s dictatorial attitude caused a collateral damage. Police detective chief Damayanti Sen was transferred to a less important post for contradicting the Chief Minister in public.
The victim will not see justice any longer. But she had set an example braving social ostracism and fighting back. She became a social activist and her case triggered national outrage. She lost her job after the incident and one of her traumatic experiences was that she was thrown out of a restaurant because it did not want a rape victim on its premises. Her life was condemned by an incident for which she could not be blamed. Yet Indian society puts a rape victim in the gloom of life-in-death. Now that she is dead, her family will bear the stigma. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a great one for women empowerment, treats rape as a small matter which is astonishing. The BBC documentary maker, Leslee Udwin would do well to put her glare on the Park Street tragedy.