PM Meets Sandeshkhali Women Who Accused Suspended TMC Leader Of Sexual Assault, Modi "Heard Them Like Father Figure": Report

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (6 March) met women of Sandeshkhali, who accused the now arrested and suspended Trinamool Congress (TMC) Shahjahan Sheikh of sexual assault.

“They put forward their ordeal and PM heard them patiently like a father figure. The victims were very emotional with the fact that PM understood their pain,” a BJP source was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

Sandeshkhali is a village in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, where women started protesting last month over the atrocities of local TMC leaders. They accused the leaders of land grabs and sexual assault.

It is said that the women got the courage to speak out only when Sheikh was on the run after the attack on ED officers in Sandeshkhali. He was arrested last week and was asked to be handed over to the CBI.

However, the West Bengal government approached the Supreme Court challenging the Calcutta High Court order that asked the state police to transfer the case of ED officials' assault case to the CBI.

The meeting comes after the PM had targeted TMC over the Sandeshkhali issue in a rally earlier. "The TMC government is using its power to save sinners of Bengal's women," Modi said.

Modi highlighted the jolt given by the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court to the state government. "TMC government trusts its leaders who committed atrocities on women, but not the victims," he said.

"The women's rage against the TMC will not be confined to Sandeshkhali, it will spread over the whole of Bengal. I can see that nari shakti is determined to end TMC's mafiaraj (rule of mafia)," Modi added.