MOYNAGURI: A woman was allegedly gang-raped by a TMC panchayat member and three accomplices in Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district when she went up to her elected representative to demand that he return the “cut money” she had paid in return for an unfulfilled promise to make her a beneficiary of a central housing scheme.

The rape survivor lodged an FIR on Monday against Md Bulbul, member of the Saktibari II gram panchayat , and Zahidul Islam, Joynal Abedin and Azizul Haque. All four accused are absconding, the police said.

The woman, who underwent a medical test on Tuesday, accused Bulbul of taking Rs 7,000 from her last year when she applied for financial assistance to build a house under the PMAY (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana) scheme. The panchayat member, she alleged, said the “cut money” would ensure her application was sanctioned.

“On August 14, I went to the panchayat member’s house and asked him to return my money since the sanction never came. He was sitting with three friends of his. All four dragged me inside the house and took turns raping me,” the woman said in her complaint. “They also brutalised me. The panchayat member later came to my house and warned me of dire consequences if I dared complain against him,” she said.

Jalpaiguri SP Avisekh Modi said: “The medical report is yet to come.” In Bengal, “cut money” is a euphemism for bribes that people, mostly in the rural areas, are allegedly forced to pay to elected representatives and others in exchange for delivery of services under government schemes.

