The incident took place on the 26th of April and a complaint was filed against Nilanjan Roy the next day
The BJP's Lok Sabha candidate for Diamond Harbour has been charged for allegedly sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl last month when she and her father had gone to lodge a complaint with him.
Nilanjan Roy has been charged under the POCSO Act.
The incident took place on the 26th of April and a complaint was filed the next day.
According to the state child rights body, "A complaint was lodged at the Falta police station. Medical examination of the girl was done and her statement recorded, but the police did not arrest Roy," says Ananya Chatterjee Chakrobarti, the chairperson of West Bengal State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
They came to know of the incident on Friday and wrote to the Election Commission to immediately arrest Mr Roy. Ms Chakrobarti and her colleagues also visited the girl at her house.
The state BJP Vice-President Jayprakash Majumdar blamed the Trinamool Congress for a "false case." He told NDTV, "It is a conspiracy to defame the candidate ahead of the elections. It was a false case filed in a police station where he was not present during the time of the incident. On primary investigation, police did not find a prima-facie case so they did not proceed. Now the TMC is using the Child Rights Commission, who has sent a letter to the EC to arrest him, which is beyond their jurisdiction."
Though the Election Commission is yet to take a decision in this case, the Superintendent of Police of Diamond Harbour Srihari Pandey told NDTV, "The matter is part of ongoing investigation. We have heard from WBPCR, we shall comply with the investigating steps they have asked us to."
Nilanjan Roy has been fielded against Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee from the seat. Diamond Harbour goes to polls on May 19.