Bengal Assembly unanimously passes ‘historic' Aparajita Bill

On Tuesday, the Bengal Assembly unanimously passed 'Aparajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill, 2024, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee calling it "historic and model for other states" aiming to "address pertinent issues caused by gaps in the existing criminal laws".

- PRADIP CHATTERJEE

Chief Minister (CM) Banerjee while discussing "Aparajita Bill" in the Assembly countered BJP MLAs' demand for her resignation by asking questions as to why the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, Home Minister (HM) Amit Shah have not resigned yet after so many incidents of rape occurred in various parts of the country. Banerjee also demanded the resignation of the Chief Ministers of those states where women were raped and murdered.

"We have passed a historic Bill. The Prime Minister (PM) has not been able to do so. Shame on the Prime Minister as he failed to protect the women of the country. Ask the PM to resign. Ask Home Minister to resign. BJP is trying to malign Bengal,” Banerjee said in reply to BJP MLAs slogan: "Daabi Ek/Dofa Ek/Mukhhya Mantrir Padatyag" (One point agenda/One point demand/ CM's resignation).

She highlighted the high rates of crimes against women in states like Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, contrasting them with Bengal, where she claimed that victims are receiving justice in the courts. "Crime rates against women in states like UP and Gujarat are much higher. In UP around 7 lakh cases of torture on women occurred while in Gujarat around 5 lakh such cases were registered. In Bengal the figure stood at 1.5 lakh. In Bengal, women will get justice in courts," Banerjee said.

"Our state is in the third position in the matter of fasttrack courts," she told the House.

Referring to other rape incidents in the country, she said: "No one talks about what happened in Unnao (and) the victim of Hathras did not get justice..." She demanded the resignation of PM Modi and HM Shah, as well as chief ministers of various states as they were "unable to implement effective legislations to safeguard women”. The mention of Modi and Shah trig