Bengal child rights panel at Sandeshkhali to probe cruelty on infant

A six-member team of the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights on Saturday visited Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district to ascertain complaints of child abuse in the politically troubled area.

Villagers alleged that a seven-month-old child was snatched from her mother's lap and thrown away by miscreants in Sandeshkhali.

The child is now under treatment.

Advisor to the state child rights panel Sudeshna Roy told reporters, "We have come to ground zero to assess the situation. Our duty is to give protection to every child in the state and also see their rights are protected".

"We will talk to the mother of the child who was allegedly tortured", she said.

The six-member team of the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights which visited Sandeshkhali was led by its chairman Tulika Das.

Tension started brewing in Sandeshkhali after the ED went to the area to search the premises of local Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shajahan more than a month ago.

The Trinamool Congress leader is still at large.

Earlier, representatives National Commission for Women and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes also visited the area.

Sandeshkhali, a village in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, has been witnessing protests over alleged atrocities, including sexual abuse, by some TMC leaders against villagers and has triggered a fierce political blame game with senior leaders of the Congress, which is part of the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party Opposition bloc INDIA along with TMC at the national level, joining others to criticise the Mamata Banerjee government over the issue.