A delegation comprising of representatives from National Women’s Organizations led by Jagmati Sangwan, (General Secretary, AIDWA) met the Resident Commissioner regarding the horrendous double gang rape and murder of the 16 year old student in Madhyagram , in North 24 Parganas , West Bengal. They submitted an open letter addressed to the Chief Minister of West Bengal from the Women’s Organisation and different dignitaries like Prof CP Chandrasekhar, Prof Jayati Ghosh, Prof Archana Prasad, Prof Pravin Jha of JNU, Prof Prem Chaudhury, renowned historian, Nandita Narain, President DUTA, Abha Dev Habib, Member Exec Concuil, DU, Prof Sonya Gupta, Prof Simmi Malhotra of JMI, Prof Dinesh Abrol, CSSP, AN Damodaran, President Jan Sanskriti, Prof Vandana Prasad, PHRN, Ranjan Nirula and AR Sindhu , AICCWW, Amitav Guha, FMRAI, Dr. Nalini Taneja and Prof Amar Farooqui of DU, Leila Passah, YWCA, Kamla Bhasin from One Billion Rising, Kusum Sehgal, Swastika Mahila Samiti, Annie Raja, NFIW, NS Goswami, Retd Prof, DU, Sunand Singh CEC of SFI, Puran Chand, Gen Secretary DYFI, Delhi, Smita Gupta of ISWSD, Dr Arathi PM, of Council for Social Dev, Prof Utsa Patnaik, renowned economist, Rajani Palrivala, Department of Sociology, Delhi University, Prof. Ayesha Kidwai, Centre for linguistics, JNU , Imrana Qadeer, Retired Prof. CSMCH, JNU, Moloyashree Hashmi, President, Jan Natya Manch, Teesta Setalvad, Human Right Activist , Geetha Nambisan, Jagori, Asha Mishra, Secretary, BGVS. It may be recalled that it was done in response to the women’s organsations call to mark Jan 3rd ,2013 as “Akrosh Diwas” against this gruesome incident. Meanwhile such open letters have been sent from the nationwide through Deputy Commissioners to the Chief Minister, West Bengal .
The major demands made are:
- Impartial inquiry into the case,
- Speedy and time-bound trial of the case,
- Punishment to the policemen who were hand-in-glove with the criminals
- Safety and support to the victim’s family
The delegation included – Maimoona Mollah (Delhi, JMS), Deepti Bharti, (NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDIAN WOMEN), Padmini and Vimla Pant ( Joint Women’s Programme) Divya Vinod (Young Women’s Christian Association of India).
