In a viral video, a woman was seen being tied to her knees and dragged over a country road in Kolkata by a group of men led by ruling Trinamool Congress panchayat leader for allegedly protesting against land grabbing. When the woman’s sister objected, she too was pushed to the ground and brutally beaten up, NDTV reported.
On Sunday, 2 February the Trinamool district chief Arpita Ghosh ordered the suspension of panchayat leader Amal Sarkar from his office but no arrest has been made yet.
In the video, the woman, Smritikona Das can be seen being thrown to the ground and beaten up. A man then ties a rope around Smritikona’s knees while another group pulled her by her arms over an earthen road.
Smrikona Das is a teacher at a local school and she lives with her mother.
When her older sister, Soma Das, protested against the brutality, she too was thrown to the ground and dragged.
The two women told NDTV , that they had consented to give up their land because they were initially told that the road being constructed in front of their house would be 12-feet wide, but later the panchayat allegedly decided to widen the road to 24 feet to which the women protested against.
Both the sisters were rushed to a hospital, where the older sister was released after first aid, while the younger sister Smritikona Das, who was beaten brutally, was released after treatment on Saturday, 1 February.
A police complaint was filed by Smritikona on Sunday, 2 February. Smritikona in her complaint named the gram panchayat vice chief Amal Sarkar as the person who orchestrated the attack.
(This article has been published with inputs from NDTV)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)