The West Bengal Commission for Women has asked the president of a Bypass housing complex who had refused to hear a young woman’s complaint because she was not “properly dressed” to appear before it on September 9.
The panel summoned Nibir Dasgupta, the president of Ruchira Residency Owners’ Association, following a complaint from three residents of the housing complex.
The three had in their complaint lodged last month drawn the commission’s attention to “extremely objectionable posts” about the woman, Yishi Chakraborty, and her family in a WhatsApp group, whose members include Dasgupta.
“Nibir Dasgupta and the three complaints from Ruchira Residency have been asked to appear before the commission to attend a hearing on Monday,” commission chairperson Leena Gangopadhayay said on Friday.
Asked whether Dasgupta would appear before the panel, Gangopadhaya said: “He has consented to come.”
The three complainants had also pleaded with the commission to find out whether the excuse cited by Dasgupta to skip a hearing on August 9 was genuine or not.
An acquaintence of Dasgupta had written to the commission on August 7 stating that the president of the complex was “out of station” and would be available only from August 21.
The complainants, all women, wondered if Dasgupta were out of town during the period, how come he turned up at Garfa police station on August 7 to lodge an FIR against Yishi.
In the FIR, Dasgupta described Yishi as “the queen” and said her mother “was suffering from insanity”.
He wrote Yishi “is found suspect as noticed with various characters. She leads a very luxurious life and a night comer”.
Commission chairperson Gangopadhyay had earlier said the failure of the police to restrain Dasgupta from launching an attack on Yishi’s family had baffled her.
“I have spoken to the police and sought to know how they could accept an FIR where the family has been unnecessarily targeted,” she said on Friday.
Repeated calls to Dasgupta went unanswered. He did not reply to text messages from Metro either.
