To
Mamata Banerjee
Chief Minister, West Bengal, India

We, the undersigned, condemn the barbaric rape and murder of the 16 year old girl from Madhyamgram, West Bengal. We further condemn the complete inability of the state administration to protect her after she filed a police complaint on Oct 26th, 2013, which resulted in her being abducted and raped again by the friends of the original assailants. On Dec 23rd the girl was set on fire in her house allegedly by the rapists and she succumbed to her burns on Dec 30. Subsequently, in a cover-up effort, police attempted in shameful manner to seize and cremate her body without her family’s permission which we unequivocally condemn and protest as well.

This latest Kolkata incident is among several shocking incidents of gender violence where state authorities have either been party to the violence themselves, as in the case of Soni Sori in Chattisgarh, or woefully failed in their duties of providing basic security to survivors and thereafter attempted cover-up operations.

The gruesome 2012 Delhi incident is still fresh in our memories and we are
acutely dismayed to see the continued callous behavior of the state in matters of gender violence.

We hereby urgently demand the following –

• Bring the accused to justice at the earliest regardless of their political affiliation.
• Ensure the safety of the girl’s family
• Prosecute all officials, regardless of rank or position, who failed to act on the girl’s First Information Report (FIR) and those responsible for forcibly trying to cremate her body without the parent’s consent.
• Set up an independent state-wide support group for survivors of sexual violence and implement recommendations of Justice Verma Committee immediately

cc : Pranab Mukherjee, The President of India

cc : MK Narayanan, The Governer of West Bengal

cc : The Chairperson, National Commission for Women