The Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal on Sunday staged dharnas in front of the West Bengal Assembly and the office of Malda Superintendent of Police in protest against the alleged assault and stripping of two women at a marketplace in the district.
The BJP legislators sought the removal of Malda district SP as they sat for the dharna on Sunday.
Five BJP MLAs were present including Manoj Tigga and Shankar Ghosh who held placards and raised slogans demanding the removal of the SP over the incident that allegedly took place at Pakua Hat in the Bamangola police station area earlier this week.
According to a report by PTI, Khagen Murmu, Maldaha Uttar constituency's BJP MP also participated in the dharna with party workers outside the SP's office in Malda town which started on Saturday continued till Sunday.
Reportedly Khagen Murmu said, "The police must take stringent action against those involved in the gruesome act of assaulting and disrobing the women." He also added, "Police have also lathi-charged our protesting workers."
According to the latest updates, the police have registered a suo motu case and detained five persons in connection with the incident.
What happened in Malda?
A purported video of the incident showing a mob beating up the women mercilessly was shared on social media by Amit Malviya, the head of BJP's IT cell on Saturday.
In a tweet, Malviya claimed that two women were "stripped naked, tortured and beaten mercilessly, while the police remained a mute spectator".
Rubbishing the charges, the Women and Child Health Minister Shashi Panja told reporters that the two were embroiled in a scuffle with other women who accused them of theft and women civic police volunteers who were present at the spot tried to stop them.
She accused the BJP of resorting to "diversionary tactics" by "hyping" a quarrel between local women over the selling of vegetables and allegations of theft.
"The scuffle has no political or caste overtones… BJP is unnecessarily making this a political issue," the minister asserted.
