No Security For Mentally Unsound Woman Gangraped In Kolkata: Women's Panel

A National Commission for Women (NCW) fact finding team has said the mentally unsound woman of a shelter home who was allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped in Kolkata has still not been given any protection, adding that it has found irregularities in the functioning of the facility.

The team, which visited Kolkata and met the survivor, said the woman has been shifted to an old age home run by the same proprietor.

It said the survivor and her mother were admitted to the shelter home without proper documentation.

The NCW formed an inquiry panel to look into the case of the 38-year-old woman who was an inmate of a home for the mentally-unsound in Kolkata.

The woman was kidnapped from a road and gang-raped after she went out at night breaking a lock. A group of men got her in a car by force from near the home at Panchasayar in south-eastern fringes of the city and allegedly raped her in the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.

The NCW formed the committee headed by its member Chandramukhi Devi to investigate the case.

"The victim's mother died mysteriously at the shelter home two days after the incident. Though the reason cited for her death was cardiac arrest but the medical reports are awaited," the team, in the report, submitted after the visit said.

"There seems to be many discrepancies in the complete system in West Bengal. There was no female police officer present at the police station when the victim's sister went to file the complaint," the report said.

It also said that there was no monitoring or audit of shelter homes run by private entities in the city.

The NCW team, which met the survivor and her family has asked the Joint Commissioner to give full protection and compensation to the victim as immediate relief.

"NCW also asked him to ensure that more patrolling cars are on the road in the city to ensure the safety and security of women in Kolkata," it said.