The Supreme Court recently came down heavily on the Bengal Police in the case of vandalism at a BJP supporter’s house and sexual assault of his wife during the 2021 post-poll violence, saying that the officer in-charge refused to register an FIR and asked the family to leave the village instead for their safety. During the hearing on May 30 when the top court cancelled the bail of six Trinamool Congress cadres by setting aside the Calcutta High Court order, it was revealed that around 40-50 heavily armed assailants vandalised and looted the complainant’s house, pulled his wife by her hair, forcibly undressed her and then sexually abused her. She was able to save herself after she threatened to set herself ablaze by pouring kerosene on herself.

“This is a grave circumstance which convinces us that the accused persons, including the respondents herein, were trying to terrorise the members of the opposite political party,” the top court said.

It further pointed out that the “vengeful attitude of the accused persons” and the “reprehensible manner in which the incident was perpetrated” shows their sole objective was to subdue the supporters of the opposite party into submission “by hook or by crook”. “The dastardly offence was nothing short of a grave attack on the roots of democracy,” the bench, comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, said.

Explaining the reason behind setting aside the High Court order, the bench highlighted that if the accused persons were allowed to remain on bail, the case could not see a fair and impartial trial.

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