Kolkata, Sep 17 A police officer has been accused of physically assaulting female students of a girls' high school in Kolkata's northern outskirts, sparking widespread outrage and drawing sharp criticism from the Opposition.
The incident came to light after a video of the alleged assault went viral on social media on Wednesday.
The offending officer was identified as Jonaki Bagchi, the inspector-in-charge of the Rajarhat Police Station, which falls under the Bidhannagar City Police jurisdiction.
The video, which surfaced on Wednesday morning, shows the officer allegedly entering the premises of Rajarhat Annakali Girls High School and physically assaulting girl students.
The Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, shared the video on his official social media handle. He claimed that the police officer was seen "touching and even punching female students" in an attempt to suppress their protest.
According to Adhikari, the students were protesting against the prolonged absence of their Bengali teacher, who had reportedly not attended school for eight months. The Opposition leader accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's administration of "completely ruining" the state's education system.
"In the state, more than eight thousand government schools have been shut down, and the condition of those still functioning is so poor that students from middle- and lower-middle-class families are being compelled to spend from their own pockets to study in private schools," Adhikari alleged.
The Leader of the Opposition claimed that he had been closely monitoring the developments, particularly whether the police would take action against Bagchi, who, despite being a male officer, entered a girls’ school and physically assaulted the students.
Meanwhile, a senior state BJP leader said that unless the state government initiates disciplinary action against the offending cop, the party will take up the issue in a major way, including legal steps, and also draw the attention of the National Commission for Women.
Faced with the embarrassment of the video going viral, senior officials of Bidhannagar Police Station declined to comment, and leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress also remained silent.
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