“The type of politics being done is not acceptable”: Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi on RG Kar rape-murder case

Surat (Gujarat) [India], September 7 (ANI): Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi said on Friday that it was unacceptable for the type of politics that is being done around the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

Speaking to ANI, Sanghavi said that it was “our duty” to provide safety to women, especially when there is a female Chief Minister in the state.

“Providing safety to women and girls is our duty, especially when there is a female CM; everyone expects from her… The type of politics being done (in Bengal in the RG Kar Medical College & Hospital rape-murder case) is not acceptable,” he said.

He further said that action is more important than act while commenting on the new anti-rape law, “Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) 2024,” passed by the West Bengal government on September 3.

“Act is not important; action is important… This is very sad that, being a woman, you (Mamata Banerjee) are not able to understand the pain of other women,” Sanghavi added.

On Friday, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had urged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to prioritize action over words on women’s safety.Patel emphasized the need for timely and fair enforcement of laws like the POCSO Act to ensure justice.

Addressing the West Bengal CM, Bhupendra Patel, in a post on X said, “Mamta Didi, we need actions, not just words. The POCSO Act and other laws for women’s safety are robust, but their impact depends on swift and fair action by local police. From investigation to conviction, timely justice is crucial.”

Earlier on Tuesday, the West Bengal assembly unanimously passed the Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill, 2024, following the rape and murder case at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, which the West Bengal government called “historic,” and on the other hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party termed it “dramabaazi” of the state government.

He provided examples from Gujarat to explain his point. In Surat, the Pandesara POCSO case saw a chargesheet filed in 10 days, with the rapist sentenced to death in just 22 days. In another case from Puna, the rapist was sentenced to death within 32 days. Patel also noted that in the murder of a 22-year-old daughter, Gujarat Police filed a chargesheet in 9 days, with the murderer sentenced to death within 75 days.

The trainee doctor was found dead in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9.