A mute and deaf woman was allegedly raped by a neighbour at an abandoned house in Kultali in South 24-Parganas. There are also allegations against a local panchayat member for threatening the survivor’s family.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters staged agitation against it. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Shamik Bhattacharya said that the police inaction and state government’s lackadaisical attitude in curbing crime is giving impetus to the criminals.

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The incident took place on Tuesday and a complaint was filed on Wednesday.

Police claimed that the main accused was apprehended by them. The family of the survivor claimed that the woman, who often would wander alone near her house, was taken to an nearby abandoned house on Tuesday afternoon and raped. When she didn’t return home after some time, her family started searching for her and eventually found her in the abandoned house.

Family members also claimed to have seen the accused at the scene of the crime. They quickly gathered other neighbours and subsequently filed a complaint with the Kultali police station on Wednesday. The survivor’s family further alleged that local panchayat member Prahlad Naskar arrived at the scene to ‘manage’ the situation. They claim that he offered them Rs 2 lakh to settle the matter and issued threats. However, Prahlad denied these allegations, stating that when he arrived at the scene, none of the survivor’s family members were present and he only spoke to them over the phone.

Meanwhile, the police have already arrested the youth following the complaint and he was produced in the Baruipur Sub-Divisional Court on Thursday.

Baruipur SDPO Atish Biswas said, “Based on the complaint, the police have begun an investigation. The main accused has already been arrested, and the investigation is ongoing.” Notably, earlier this month, a young girl was raped and murdered in a marshland near Joynagar, close to Kultali. The horrific incident involving a nine-year-old had sparked widespread protests in the Joynagar-Kultali region. Just weeks after that incident, another rape allegation has now surfaced in Kultali.