Online Desk  :   West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday demanded the resignations of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and the chief ministers of all states – where the incidents of rape and sexual abuse were reported recently – for allegedly failing to implement effective legislations to safeguard women. Speaking in the West Bengal assembly after tabling of the Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024, Mamata Banerjee said the Bill aims at quick investigation, fast justice delivery and enhanced punishment of the guilty.

The Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024 aims to strengthen protections for women and children by revising and introducing new provisions related to rape and sexual offences. The bill was tabled even as junior doctors continue to protest seeking exemplary punishment for the perpetrators of the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

Stating that rape is a curse against humanity and social reforms required to stop such crimes, Mamata Banerjee said the Opposition should ask governor CV Ananda Bose to sign the Aparajita bill. “It is our responsibility to enact it after that,” Mamata Banerjee said in the assembly. “Through this bill, we have tried to plug the loopholes that exist in the central legislation,” Mamata Banerjee said. When the BJP MLAs raised slogans demanding her resignation, the Bengal CM retorted, “What if I raise slogans against the prime minister and the home minister for the same reasons you are raising slogans against me.”

“States such as Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat have abnormally high crime rates against women whereas in West Bengal, tortured women are getting justice in courts,” she claimed. Banerjee alleged that West Bengal was not consulted before passing BNS. “We wanted discussions on it after the formation of the new government at the Centre,” the Trinamool Congress supremeo said. “We want justice from the CBI and death by hanging of the guilty,” Banerjee said over the rape and murder of the RG Kar medic while expressing her sorrow over the gruesome crime.

Bengal assembly unanimously passes anti-rape bill : The bill was later passed unanimously after Opposition lend full support to it, amid some chaotic scenes on the floor of the House.
The proposed amendments to the Bill moved by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, were, however, not accepted by the House. The draft legislation seeks capital punishment for persons convicted of rape if their actions result in the victim’s death or leave her in a vegetative state.