Kolkata rape: Governor M.K.Narayanan defends Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan Thursday said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee may have been trying to “defuse the situation” in calling an alleged rape a “cooked up” incident.

“She (Banerjee) was probably trying to defuse the situation. I don’t know who should speak and when. It is not something you can take a decision on,” Narayanan told reporters here on the sidelines of the 14th convocation of the Bengal Engineering and Science University.

The governor was asked if Banerjee had made the comment on the incident prematurely.

An Anglo-Indian woman, a mother of two, had complained that she was raped at gunpoint Feb 6 inside a moving car after partying late at a night club on fashionable Park Street.

The police complaint was filed three days later after the victim underwent a medical examination. She accused one Lavi Gidwani and four others for the crime.

The woman complained of police inaction as the media rallied behind her. The chief minister called the entire issue as a “cooked up” incident to malign the government.

Three people have been arrested so far while two are absconding.