Woman brings 'cut money' rape charge in Jalpaiguri

Moynaguri: A woman in Jalpaiguri district’s Moynaguri was allegedly gang-raped by a Trinamool panchayat member and three of his friends when she asked him to return the cut money he had allegedly taken on the assurance to get her a concrete house under a central housing scheme.

The survivor lodged an FIR here on Monday against Saktibari II gram panchayat member Md Bulbul and his friends Zahidul Islam, Joynal Abedin and Azizul Haque.

The four are absconding. The woman, in her late 40s, underwent mandatory medical test on Tuesday.

She alleged that Md Bulbul had sought Rs 7,000 when she applied to be a PMAY (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana) beneficiary last year. The panchayat member, she said, had then assured that he would ensure her application was sanctioned and she got money to build a concrete house on her land at Moynaguri’s Sojnartari.

The woman further said she kept knocking on Md Bulbul’s door but her PMAY application was yet to be sanctioned.

“On August 14, I went to the panchayat member’s house in nearby Moddhabari once again and asked him to return my cut money. He was with three friends. All four pounced on me, dragged me inside the house and took turns in raping me. They even inserted a brinjal into my private part. The panchayat member then reached my home in Sojnartari and warned me of dire consequences if I dared complain,” she alleged. “It took me a few days to muster the courage to lodge a police complaint, which I did on Monday,” the survivor added.

Jalpaiguri SP Avisekh Modi said: “Police are investigating the case. We have sent the victim for medical examination. The report is yet to be handed to police. The investigation is at a preliminary stage.”