Minister accuses CPI(M) of doing politics over body of the16-year-old gang-rape victim

With the West Bengal government coming under fire over the rape-cum-murder of a 16-year-old girl, a minister on Friday said that the opposition CPI(M) was doing politics over bodies to disturb the administration.

"The CPI(M) has lost acceptance among the people, thus their leaders have turned self-styled village heads to play politics on everything including bodies of those dead," Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim told reporters at the state secretariat.

"As the opposition party, it only understands opposing all good work of the government," the minister said, adding that no politics should be done with dead bodies, which is an indicator of dirty culture.

Referring to the rape-cum-murder of the girl at Madhyamgram, Hakim said that it was not always possible to "understand the dimension of all incidents".

"However, the state government has taken appropriate action in this case," he said even as Kolkata Police was severely criticised in several quarters over its delay in acting on the girl's dying statement blaming the accused for setting herself on fire.

The girl died in a hospital three days ago of burn injuries.