A debate has escalated between the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) over a viral video that claimed that the Kolkata Police had bribed the RG Kar Medical College rape and murder victim's family.
In the latest, TMC released a video of the family rebutting all the claims of any sort of bribe offered. According to the reports, the video was shot last month, and the victim's father defied the rumours about the bribe as baseless.
However, the family later claimed they were forced to record the videos.
Let's take a look at how these events unfolded when the allegations unearthed.
1. "Forced cremation"
During the night protest at RG Kar on Wednesday, the victim’s family claimed that they were forced to cremate the body of their daughter initially, according to the Indian Express.
The aunt of the deceased daughter said, ""...Till the last rites were not performed, 300-400 policemen surrounded us but after it was performed, not a single policeman was seen there. What would the family do, how would they go home, Police took no responsibility. Police were active till the last rites were performed and after that, they became completely inactive."
2. "Police tried to bribe us"
The aunt of the rape victim claimed in a video that while the body was still in front of the family, the Kolkata Police offered them money. The family also claimed the same in the Wednesday night's protest.
"When the body of the daughter was lying in front of the parents in the house the police were offering money, is this the humanity of police?" she said.
3. "Shameless propaganda": TMC releases another video defying these claims
On Thursday, TMC reportedly, in a press conference, released a video that was shot last month, refuting any claims of bribery by the Kolkata Police.
In the video the victim's father could be heard saying, “These are baseless rumours, we have not said anything on attempts being made to bribe us by police officials. This is a blatant lie. I urge everyone not to spread such rumours and instead ensure that our daughter gets justice.”
In response to this, TMC leader, Shashi Panja, launched a sharp attack saying, "BJP is not seeking any justice by politicising the issue. This is deeply affecting the sentiments of the victim's parents."
4. Family on TMC's video "They forced us to say this"
In an interview with a Bengali news channel, the family said that the video was forcibly recorded.
An aunt of the deceased doctor said, "A video has gone viral, we too have seen it. The family was forced to shoot it on the night of 11th August. The matter was with the Kolkata Police at that time. They forced us to say this...We don't know what the amount was, but it was a bundle of notes...Video was made viral at 1 am, it was done deliberately."
5. BJP Vs TMC, "Free and fair probe, not possible"
BJP leader Amit Malviya hit back at TMC with regard to the video's allegation claiming that Mamata Banerjee's police had threatened to derail the probe if the family doesn't speak up in the video.
On social media platform X, he said, "Unless Mamata Banerjee and Vineet Goyal, Commissioner of Kolkata Police step down, free and fair probe is not possible. Much of the evidence has already been destroyed. Call records of the CM and Kolkata CP, for 72 hours after the crime, should be put in the public domain. Their conversations investigated."