KOLKATA: How many times must a rape victim be humiliated when she sticks to her complaint? In Bengal, it is as many times as it suits the politicians. Or, so it seems, given the way Trinamool Congress MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar hit out at the Park Street rape victim yet again on Friday.
Not only did Ghosh Dastidar rubbish the rape complaint, in a crass attempt at character assassination she dubbed the case a misunderstanding between a "woman and her client".
"They (the Park Street rape and Delhi gang rape) are totally different. The incident at Park Street was not a rape at all. It was a misunderstanding between two parties involved in professional dealing — a woman and her client," Ghosh Dastidar told a private television channel on Friday.
The derogatory comment left the victim appalled and civil society disgusted. "I am shocked and pained at such a statement from an educated, polished public representative, that too a woman. I thought the Delhi gang rape would be an eye-opener for all of us, including politicians. But this kind of insensitivity has saddened me," the victim said.
"I went to the night club on my own. How did the MP know that I went there to strike a deal? Is it because the rapists left me alive? And what sort of a message is she trying to send out? Does she mean to say that sex workers can be raped?" she asked.
The victim was taken aback at the humiliation that continues even after the police had submitted the chargesheet and urged a collective statement from women slamming such a disparaging comment.
Writer-social activist Mahasweta Devi termed the remark "improper". "Such a comment should not have co-me from a woman. It reflects how insensitive she is. This is not expected from an educated lady and a public representative like her. So what if the victim is a 'public woman'? One should not even make such a remark against a sex worker," she said.
The Barasat MP is the new member of the club of irresponsible politicians after CPM's Anisur Rehman and Congress' Abhijeet Mukherjee who have drawn flak for maligning women in the past few days. While chief minister Mamata Banerjee had termed the Park Stree rape case a "sajano galpo (concocted story)", never before had any of her Trinamool colleagues raised questions about the victim's character in such blatant and gross terms. Immediately after the incident, transport minister Madan Mitra had questioned why a mother had to go to a night club.
Senior Trinamool leader Subrata Mukherjee, who was quick to condemn Anisur Rehman's sexist comment against the chief minister, was not so forthcoming when asked for his reaction on Ghosh Dastidar's insensitive remark. "You ask the person who made the comment," the minister said.
Park Street case no rape, but ‘deal’ gone sour: MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar
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Park Street case no rape, but ‘deal’ gone sour: MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar
