Kolkata: The Kolkata Police has asked all local police stations to follow the SOP and the new BNSS rulebook to ensure victims and their family members, who were crucial witnesses to crimes, feel secure even after an accused receives bail.The directives came following the Tuesday incident in Cossipore, where a woman claimed she was attacked by an accused yet again, a person against whom she had complaints of intimidation, molestation and assault back in 2012. The accused was out on bail, when he reportedly attacked her.The Supreme Court has repeatedly highlighted the plight of witnesses, pointing out that harassment, adjournments and lack of protection forced them to turn hostile, harming the criminal justice system.“The main reason behind this attack was the accused had carried out a life-threatening attack on my husband and me in 2012, which was registered at Cossipore PS. The accused and his family enjoy full support from a local political functionary. He also threatened my husband earlier, regarding which we lodged a complaint at Lalbazar and the home department. It’s in police records,” the woman said. “Under the protection of the political figure, the accused and his family have been for 14 years pressuring us to withdraw the 2012 criminal case. The father of the accused openly threatened my husband,” the woman told police.Officers at Cossipore PS said the fresh case detailed a violent assault at night, criminal trespass and relentless intimidation over 14 years. According to official reports, the fresh chain of violence erupted on the night of Aug 26, when the accused, his father, wife and sister allegedly launched a pre-planned attack on the victim’s household. The attackers reportedly grabbed the complainant and pulled her outside, snapping her gold chain and breaking her bangles. The men allegedly touched the victim inappropriately, made obscene gestures and used abuses.But the accused called the incident “pre-motivated” and claimed the victim falsely named even the women in his family.
