Fitness centre employee gang-raped in Kolkata

The horror of the gangrape and murder of a 12-year-old in Madhyamgram is yet to fade, but Kolkata woke to another shock on Monday: the gangrape of a woman in a moving vehicle, this time in the heart of the city, Khidderpore.

The horror of the gangrape and murder of a 12-year-old in Madhyamgram is yet to fade, but Kolkata woke to another shock on Monday: the gangrape of a woman in a moving vehicle, this time in the heart of the city, Khidderpore.

The woman, 24, an employee of a south Kolkata fitness centre, was dragged into a light truck around 9.30 pm on Sunday, raped by five men as the vehicle raced along the banks of the Hooghly river, and dumped on the roadside. In the morning, she managed to reach the Howrah railway station and ask for help.

A surgery had to be performed on her at the Howrah State General hospital.

Almost 24 hours on, no arrest has been made. The police are examining the CCTV footage from cameras in the area. “But we have not been able to get any result,” said a police officer on condition of anonymity.

READ: Woman allegedly raped and murdered in Bengal's Burdwan dist

The opposition lost no time in launching an attack on the government. “Park Street, Katwa, Malda, Kamduni, Gaighata, Barasat, Khidirpore – the state is entering a new era of rapes,” said leader of the opposition, CPM’s Suryakanta Mishra.

“During the Left Front regime, rapes took place at Nandigram, Singur and Bantala. So they should not talk,” retorted urban development minister Firhad Kahim.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee -- who had earlier dismissed rape cases as “conspiracy” and had lately been locked in a battle with the Bihar government over providing succor to the Madhyamgram victim’s family -- said the government would bear the cost of the girl’s treatment.