Kolkata: As Kolkata joined the rest of India in protest to protect its women citizens, another horrific incident has come to haunt the authorities, pointing that nothing has changed on the ground.

A 45-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped and murdered at Jagannathpur in West Bengal’s North 24-Parganas district. Additional Superintendent of Police of the district Bhaskar Mukherjee said, “The woman’s son, Alafaz Ali, had filed a report last night at Barasat police station stating that his mother was gang-raped and murdered and his father was poisoned and seriously injured.”

According to the police, the woman was found near a brick kiln on Saturday evening bearing sharp wounds on the head. The incident occurred when the woman went to look for her husband, a brick-kiln worker. Six persons allegedly assaulted her. Meanwhile, her husband returned home and went to look for his wife when he heard her cry for help and was in turn assaulted and forcibly made to consume some poisonous substance, he said.

The victim and her husband were rushed to State general hospital where the woman succumbed. Police arrested one person on Sunday and detained eight others for interrogation. Police are conducting raids in the area to bring the culprits to book.

“We may protest as much as we want, but unless we rectify our laws and sensitise the police force, we will not be able to achieve and helpless innocent women will be at the receiving end,” said ex-police officer Sarbani Sen.

However, the state government seems to have finally woken up to the need to protect its women and is setting up 65 all-woman police stations across the state. In a rally Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced, “In Bengal there will be 65 all-woman police stations. Of them 10 have already been set up. 19 human rights courts and 158 fast track courts have also been set up. We will do all that is in our power to protect women.”

Police sources inform that these police stations will have an inspector, eight sub-inspectors, eight assistant sub-inspectors and 30 constables, of all those will be women and will be trained to handle women related issues like dowry, rape, eve-teasing and any form of physical assault to women. It will also be provided with all sorts of technical infrastructure.

Though women rights activist welcomed the move, they pointed out to a serious lapse in procedure that often forces women not to report to such crimes. “Often the victims are asked such personal questions that in itself is a mental torture. The forces in these stations have to be adequately trained to understand the gruesomeness of the situations and provide psychological support to the women,” said human rights activist Kalpana Chowdhury.