The parents of the Kolkata rape-murder victim insisted on Friday that they had been forced to deny bribery allegations on camera. The remarks came after the ruling Trinamool Congress released a video where they could be heard saying that they had not been offered any money by the Kolkata Police Department.
“We were told that justice will be delayed if the police get angry. At that moment, we didn’t realise what the purpose of the video was. Maybe they had anticipated that such things may come out in the open in future and the administration may face problems. That’s why they forced us to create the video to keep an excuse ready,” the victim’s father told media on Thursday.
The clarification came following a rebuttal issued by the TMC on Thursday afternoon. The ruling party has refuted allegations of a police cover-up and highlighted the video of the parents insisting that they had not been offered any money.
According to the family of the victim, the police had forced them to shoot the video in the days following the incident. The father of the deceased trainee doctor also said that they had not been allowed to see the body until the post mortem was concluded. He claimed that a senior police official had offered money — which they immediately declined. The family however noted that the police had not imposed any condition while offering the money.
“The IPS officer took out a bundle of notes in a packet and offered it to us saying that we may need it…I refused, saying that my daughter had undergone more pain than what the officer endured while preparing for the IPS exam,” Hindustan Times quoted the victim's father as saying.
The family of the deceased medic have also accused the Kolkata Police of attempting to suppress the case by hastily cremating her body.
The developments came even as West Bengal BJP led a statewide chakka jam (road blockade) on Friday to demand the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and justice for the victim.
“The questions that the victim's father has laid in front of the nation today are of paramount importance... Question No. 1, the victim's father says that when the body of the victim was in their house, then DC North offered him money. He refused the offer...An administrator tried to offer him money. A person becomes corrupt when he tries to hide something...What was there to hide that Mamata Banerjee's government sent the DC and offered money to the victim's father? What was it that the administration was trying to throw under the carpet?” asked BJP MP Sambit Patra.
(With inputs from agencies)
