Kolkata: A BJP-supporting woman was allegedly tied to a lamp post, brutally assaulted and subjected to severe torture in South 24 Parganas’ Narendrapur. The victim and her family have accused supporters of former Sonarpur North Trinamool Congress MLA Firdousi Begum of carrying out the attack, though police said there was no direct evidence linking the incident to any political leader and that the accused were being treated as criminals. Investigation is underway.The woman, a resident of Paschim Nishchindapur under Rajpur-Sonarpur Municipality, alleged that she and her husband, both BJP supporters, had been facing intimidation since May last year over a land dispute. According to the complaint lodged with Narendrapur police station, the accused allegedly attempted to grab their land and demanded Rs 75,000. When the family refused to pay, they were allegedly subjected to repeated assaults and death threats, forcing them to leave their home for several months.Though they returned home a few months ago following administrative intervention, the family alleged that the threats continued. According to the complaint, on Friday afternoon, while the woman’s husband was away, a group of assailants entered their house and assaulted her in front of her young daughter. When the child started crying after seeing her mother being beaten, she too was allegedly attacked with a metal ladle.The woman alleged that the attackers then dragged her by tightening a scarf around her neck to a nearby field, where she was tied to a lamp post and assaulted. She claimed that clumps of her hair were pulled out and that the assailants threatened to slit her tongue with a blade. She managed to survive the attack and later lodged a complaint against 11 persons at Narendrapur police station.The victim’s family alleged that all the accused were followers of former Trinamool MLA Firdousi Begum and claimed they had enjoyed political patronage in the area during the previous regime.“My family had to leave our home because of their torture. Even after the change of government, their intimidation has continued. I appeal to Suvendu Adhikari to save us,” the victim’s husband said.Following the complaint, police conducted overnight raids on Saturday and arrested Tariful Uddin from the Tollygunge area. Police sources said his name figures in the FIR and that he had allegedly gone into hiding at his in-laws’ house after the incident before being tracked down and arrested.Repeated attempts to contact former MLA Firdousi Begum for her reaction remained unsuccessful.A senior cop said there was “no direct link” between the incident and any political leader. “The accused are being identified and investigated as criminals. The investigation is continuing,” the officer said.
