Media outlets, fact-checking portals, and influencers had called out the news of post-poll violence to be fake, exaggerated, and overhyped. But the truth is like light, can never be hidden forever. The truth about the fascist Taliban-style post-poll violence against the members of the opposition parties is slowly emerging out from Bengal.

The special crime branch of CBI, on the direction of Calcutta high court, has started an investigation into 43 cases including 29 rapes and 12 murders. Today, 9 cases were registered by the CBI and more cases are under the process of being registered.

Many CBI teams have left Kolkata and reached the various places of crime to conduct the investigations, with the court having given a deadline of 6 weeks for the preliminary report.

The directives were issued by the court after allegations of threats to withdraw the cases by the complainants and cases of murder being registered as natural death without any probe as mandated by law.

Noting that the West Bengal police have not properly responded to the allegations of inaction and tried to downplay them, the bench said, “It certainly needs investigation by an independent agency.”

Earlier, many women who were survivors of sexual assaults during the violence had moved the SC demanding a court-monitored CBI probe.

One of the applicants a 60-year-old Bengal woman had alleged that she was gang-raped in front of her six-year-old grandson, while her daughter-in-law was beaten up.

Another applicant who is a minor had alleged that she was dragged into a jungle by 4 men and raped for over an hour. After, the gruesome incident she was sent away to a child welfare home and not allowed to meet her family.

She claimed that she was “attacked and gang-raped solely for her family’s political affiliations and religious beliefs”.

The victims have also claimed that the police and law enforcement agencies in the state "instead of conducting a fair investigation and sympathizing with the victims," are in fact "trying to shield powerful accused persons." They claim that the police had "tried to dismiss the heinous attacks as small and sporadic incidents".

Interestingly, self-proclaimed warriors against fascism have remained silent about this issue when democratic principles are being trampled and crushed on by the State using the various law enforcement agencies.