KOLKATA: The Border Security Force (BSF), South Bengal Frontier, has produced documents in support of its claim that no rape was committed against a Bangladeshi woman on July 10 at Angrail in North 24 Parganas after she was apprehended while attempting to cross over to Bangladesh. Though the accused BSF jawan was suspended and a court of inquiry initiated soon after the allegation was raised by a local villager, the BSF claims that medical examination of the accused at the local primary health centre immediately after the incident didn't reveal that he had had sexual intercourse.
"Sajna Begum (30), wife of Munna Sheikh from the Kharail district of Bangladesh was trying to cross the international border with her eight-year-old son when our jawans apprehended her. She was handed over to the Gaighata police station but didn't mention that she had been sexually harassed. A local woman, however, claimed that Sajna had been raped by a jawan. The BSF has a zero-tolerance policy towards such incidents and immediately placed the jawan under suspension. A court of inquiry was also set up to inquire into the matter. However, when the woman was sent to the subdivisional hospital in Bongaon, she refused to undergo a medical examination. We have a copy of the report by the medical officer to the OC of Gaighata police station," a senior officer said.
Later, when the Bangladeshi woman was also produced before the additional chief judicial magistrate's court, she didn't mention anything about molestation or rape. A copy of her deposition before the ACJM has also been produced by the BSF. Both copies of the medical officer's report and the deposition are with TOI.
Officers believe that local villagers, who are involved in cross-border smuggling and illegal migration, levelled the charge against the BSF jawan after Sajna was caught. The issue was taken up by civil rights groups and the media in Bangladesh. "We have handed over all documents to the local police who are also investigating the matter. It is for the police to decide whether the jawan was guilty. No organization should level allegations before anything is proved," said SP Tiwari, DIG, BSF (South Bengal Frontier).