Mamata Banerjee is in the centre of fresh controversy following the case of an Anglo-Indian woman's gangrape in Kolkata's famous Park Street early this month.
Taking on the Chief Minister for describing the rape as 'contrived,' Leader of the Opposition Surya Kanta Mishra today said such statements were intended to scuttle the process of law from taking its own course.
"The chief minister is making such statements so that the law cannot take its own course," Mishra told newsmen.
Even as investigation into the case was on, Banerjee had said on February 16 that the incident was fabricated and intended to malign her government.
Adding to the CM's bizzare claim was Transport minister Madan Mitra who said: "She has two children and so far as I know she is separated from her husband, referring to the victim.
“What was she doing at a night club so late in the night?”
'There WAS a crime'
A team of investigators, led by Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Damayanti Sen, was, however, able to crack the case, arresting, on Saturday night, three youths who reportedly confessed to the crime.
Many have now demanded an apology from Mamata for 'insulting' the victim.
"I think as a woman, the chief minister should have found out from the victim either herself or through a representative what actually happened," Surya Kanta Mishra said.
Also, today, the South Kolkata District Congress organised a procession around Park Street protesting against the incident and the general deterioration of law and order in the city.
The victim, a mother of two, had complained that she was raped and beaten at gunpoint on February 6 inside a moving car. She lodged the complaint on February 9.