Nirbhaya’s mother lambasts Mamata Banerjee over Kolkata doctor rape case

Pan-India protests against the rape and murder of a Kolkata doctor intensified on Saturday with fresh calls for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to resign. The mother of Nirbhaya — the victim of the 2012 Delhi gang rape case — joined the discussion on Saturday with a scathing indictment of the TMC chief. Asha Devi claimed that Mamata was trying to ‘divert attention’ by holding protests instead of using her power to act against the culprits.
“Mamata Banerjee is trying to mislead the public instead of using her authority to take action against the culprits. She is protesting to divert people’s attention from this issue. She herself is a woman. She should have taken strict action against the culprits while discharging her responsibility as the head of the state. She should resign because she has failed to handle the situation,” she told PTI.
The 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor was found dead with severe injuries in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College on August 9. An autopsy confirmed sexual assault and the family of the victim has alleged that she was gang-raped. One individual — a police volunteer — has been arrested so far in connection with the case.
The assertion came even as doctors across the country suspended work on Saturday as a mark of protest. Meanwhile Banerjee led a protest rally from Moulali to Dorina Crossing in Kolkata on Friday to demand justice for the woman doctor. She has repeatedly called for the culprits to be handed the death penalty. 
Asha Devi said until central and state governments get serious about seeking swift punishment from the court for rapists, such brutality will continue to take place in different parts of the country every day.
“When girls are not safe in Kolkata’s medical college and such barbarity is committed against them, then one can understand the state of women’s safety in the country,” she said.
A day after the trainee doctor was allegedly raped and killed, West Bengal Police arrested one person in connection with the crime. Later, citing lapses in the police investigation, the Calcutta High Court transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).