Kolkata, Oct 31 A woman, who was eight months pregnant, delivered a stillborn baby after being allegedly assaulted by suspected BJP workers during an attack on her husband in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district, police said on Saturday.
Two suspected BJP workers have been arrested in connection with the incident, which took place in Kuchni village in Dinhata-II block on Wednesday night, they said.
The victim, Priya Pal, was allegedly beaten up when she intervened as a group of men attacked her husband, Debajit Barman, a private tutor and Mamata All India Trinamool Congress supporter, when he was returning home.
Barman said that after the assault, both of them were admitted to Dinhata Sub-divisional Hospital, where Priya delivered a stillborn baby boy on Friday.
Barman alleged that the attack was linked to his sister-in-law’s association with the Mamata AITC. His sister-in-law, Ranu Barman, is a former TMC panchayat member.
After Barman lodged a police complaint naming 10 people, police arrested two persons, identified as Chandan Barman and Manoranjan Barman, in connection with the case, an officer said, adding a search is underway for the remaining accused.
BJP leaders, however, denied the allegations that the accused were party workers and claimed that the incident stemmed from some other dispute.
Dinhata’s BJP MLA Ajay Ray condemned the incident and visited the affected family.
“Two persons have been arrested, and the remaining accused will also not be spared. As repeatedly asserted by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, we have zero tolerance for any crime against women,” he told reporters.
Alluding to the TMC regime when minister Udayan Guha represented the assembly segment, Ray said, “Reign of terror and attacks on opponents used to take place in Dinhata earlier. But not anymore.
(PTI News)
