Kolkata:
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said her government was determined to "hang" the perpetrators of the gang-rape and murder of a girl in North 24-Parganas within a month.
"Our government is determined to punish the criminals. Our target is to hang the rapists within a month. We have done it before and we can do it now," Ms Banerjee told at a rally of her party Trinamool Congress in the state.
Ms Banerjee visited Kamduni village on Monday to meet the family of the 20-year-old college student who was abducted, raped and killed on June 7 when she was returning home after appearing in an examination in Barasat.
During her Monday visit to the family, Ms Banerjee had asserted the death sentence for the eight arrested accused, but was subjected to noisy demonstrations by women of the area who complained of lack of security.
The Trinamool Congress chief rebuked the protesters as well as those arrested and accused the opposition CPM for doing politics over the incident.
With the National Crime Records Bureau putting the state atop the charts on crime against women, Ms Banerjee attributed the figures to her government's ability to instill confidence in the people to report the crimes.
"During the Left Front regime, despite being subjected to heinous crimes, women never dared to file FIRs or lodge police complaints. They would weep behind curtains and never revealed their ordeals. But thanks to the current regime, people are now aware. They are reporting every crime. I welcome this. I appreciate women's attitude to come out and complain," said Ms Banerjee.
She also blamed a section of the media for misleading people and spreading canards against her government.