Bengal woman tortured in street: assaulter a TMC man, says BJP

Kolkata: After a gruesome video of a man beating a woman, as well as another man, in the street while a large crowd does nothing but watch, the opposition in Bengal, from where the video originated, attacked the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), alleging that the assaulter affiliated to the Mamata Banerjee-led party.

The video shows a man repeatedly hitting a woman, who is on the ground, with sticks while a crowd watches in silence. The woman could be heard crying in pain, but the assaulter did not stop. Later, he turns to a man who is sitting on the ground and hits him, and a little later, a mature woman can be seen trying to rescue the man. The assaulter then turns to his first victim, the woman, again. At one point, he kicks the woman and grabs her by her hair.

Opposition parties, the CPI(M) and BJP, said that the video is from Chopra of north Bengal's Uttar Dinajpur district, and the harrowing incident happened over the weekend, NDTV reports.

The opposition says that the assaulter is a local strongman named Tajemul and is affiliated with TMC. They said that he is known for his deliverance of "instant justice" for local disputes. When it was not clear why the person was attacking the two, the local police informed them that they had registered a case and were searching for the accused.

BJP, the main opposition in West Bengal, said that the incidents reveal the ugly face of Mamata Banerjee's rule in West Bengal.

TMC replied that whatever BJP is saying is immaterial since the party is politically bankrupt. It will say whatever it wanted, TMC said and added that the accused will be arrested and penalized without minding what his political affiliations are.