Bengal has become safe haven for criminals, not safe for women: CPI(M)

Kolkata, Oct 12 (PTI) The CPI(M) on Sunday claimed that West Bengal has become a safe haven for criminals, maintaining that the state is not anymore safe for women.

"In West Bengal, criminals are safe and not women," CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said that female boarders, especially those from outside the state, should follow hostel rules and not venture out late at night.

Banerjee made the averment after a student of a private medical college in Durgapur, hailing from Odisha, was allegedly gang-raped on Friday night when she went out with a friend for dinner.

Chakraborty said Banerjee, by asking female students not to venture out at night, has made it apparent that West Bengal is "not safe for women".

"By asking women students not to venture out at night, the chief minister has made it clear that the propaganda that Kolkata is the safest city, or Durgapur is a safe city, is not true," Chakraborty, a former CPI(M) Lok Sabha MP, said.

"She (Banerjee) has made it apparent that the state is not anymore safe for women," he said.

Chakraborty maintained that security personnel of the private medical college are responsible for security inside the campus and not outside, which he said is the responsibility of the state's law and order mechanism.

A student of a private medical college in Durgapur, hailing from Odisha, was allegedly gang-raped on Friday night when she went out with a friend for dinner. PTI AMR RG