A homemaker at a village in Kaliachak-III block of Malda district who filed a police complaint against the head of a Trinamul-run panchayat for repeatedly raping her by promising marriage, accused Trinamul MLA Chandana Sarkar of offering her “compensation” of Rs 1.5 lakh to withdraw the complaint.

The offer, she said, was made at a shalishi sabha held at the village.

The incident has caused a stir in the district as Sarkar is also the deputy chief of Malda Zilla Parishad and district youth Trinamul president.

Sarkar claimed it was common practice in rural areas to convene shalishi sabhas to “find solutions to issues”. She also raised questions on the “character” of the victim who is four months pregnant.

The woman, who is the wife of a migrant worker, recently filed the complaint at Kaliachak police station, alleging Paltu Mandal, the pradhan of Trinamul-run Birnagar-II panchayat, started an extra-marital affair with her and promised to marry her. “He forced me to stay in a separate house with my two daughters. I got pregnant and he forced me to abort. A few months back, I got pregnant again. As I asked him to marry me, he stopped keeping contact with me,” she had said.

According to her, a couple of days after she filed the complaint, she was summoned to a shalishi sabha convened at the directive of Baishnabnagar Trinamul MLA Sarkar.

“I was asked to accept Rs 1.5 lakh as compensation and withdraw the complaint. I refused,” she said.

Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury, a veteran Trinamul leader and a member of the party's core committee in Malda district, said a shalishi sabha was illegal. “When a police complaint is filed and a case registered, probe should continue.... No MLA or political leader can intervene. It is disappointing. We hope the state leadership will take suitable steps in this regard,” Choudhury said.

Amlan Bhaduri, the general secretary of BJP’s Malda south (organisational) district, also reacted sharply.

“It is incredible that a woman MLA is making such an offer through a shalishi sabha and is doing the victim’s character assassination. If no visible steps are taken against the MLA, we will resort to protests,” said Bhaduri.