TMC MP courts controversy by insinuating Park St rape victim's a sex-worker

Close on the heels of a row over CPI-M leader's derogatory remarks against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a Trinamool Congress MP on Friday courted controversy saying the Park Street incident in February was not at all a case of rape.

"...That was a different case altogether. That was not at all a rape case. It was a misunderstanding between two parties involved in professional dealings. Between the lady and her client," TMC MP Kakoli Ghose Dastidar told a TV channel.

Ghose Dastidar made the comment while reacting to the derogatory remarks made by CPI-M leader Anisur Rehman at Itahar in North Dinajpur district on Wednesday.

Rehman had apologised on Thursday after triggering a political storm.

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The MP claimed that whatever she said is as per the police report. Asked about Ghose Dastidar's remark, senior TMC leader and Panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee told reporters at state secretariat, "You ask her."

Describing the comment as appalling, CPI(M) leader Md Selim said "this is the mindset of the Trinamool Congress government."

An Anglo-Indian woman was raped in a car on February 6 while she was returning home from Park Street.

The woman criticised the TMC MP for her remarks, calling it shameful. "Making such derogatory remarks is abominable. I am deeply shattered by this. I was vindicated by officers," she said.

The woman said that politicians should desist from politicising the issue and help the victims get justice.

"We have entrusted our lives with them and voted for them. They should not make such accusations," she said.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had dubbed the Park incident as fabricated intended to malign her government.

The case was cracked by Damayanti Sen, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), who was subsequently shifted as DIG (Training), Barrackpore Police Training College (PTC) in a reshuffle. The main accused in the case is still absconding.