Taking a serious note of the Kolkata gang rape case, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday announced an ex-gratia assistance of Rs. 1 lakh from the chief minister’s relief fund for the family of the victim, who hails from Bihar’s Samastipur district.
In addition, Mr. Kumar directed the Inspector General of Police (IG), Special Branch, GS Gangwar to visit Kolkata to meet the family of the victim and seek details of the incident from them and offer help. Mr. Gangwar would also meet officials in Kolkata to learn about the progress of the case.
Meanwhile, the gang rape has evoked a strong response in the State with the All India Students Federation (AISF), Aam Aadmi Party and women’s groups staging a march in Patna. Political parties also condemned the incident.
Deepankar Bhattacharya, general secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), said the way the victim’s murder was portrayed as suicide was shameful.
“The West Bengal government stepped in only after her death and then tried to cremate the body in a clandestine manner to avoid the mass outrage that was seen in Delhi. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee came to power on the promise of ‘parivartan’ [change]. But this is not the kind of change people want,” he said.
