Ganguly's Gesture Amid Row Over Kolkata Rape Horror Comment Splits Internet

Responding to criticism of him undermining the gravity of the horrific rape and murder case of doctor Moumita Debnath in Kolkata, former India captain and Kolkata resident Sourav Ganguly has now chosen to show his stance in a different manner. Ganguly - who had been slammed by many for allegedly calling the rape and murder a 'stray incident' - had stated on Saturday that his words had been taken out of context. Now, Ganguly has blacked out his DP on social media platform 'X', in apparent solidarity, but has prompted further varied reactions.

#NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/WiHJwDf6z1 — Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) August 19, 2024

On Monday night, Ganguly changed his DP to black, captioning it with the hashtag 'New Profile Pic'. Whilst Ganguly's intention may have been to provide solidarity and show his support for the victim and the subsequent investigation, not all users seemed to believe so.

Many chose to call out the former India captain for such an act, instead of directly addressing the issue.

Saurav you have the cheek to post black profile pic when you call this rape as a stray incident ??

Shame on you !! — Asit Ahuja (@asitahuja) August 19, 2024

Dada, you must speak against what's happened.
Not just make token actions. — Fox (@DBdox) August 19, 2024

Some others thought that Ganguly had finally indeed taken a proper stance on the issue, having been on the fence so far with his comments.

Finally you have dared like you did against the Aussies

This is the Dada I know — Shabdabhedi (@themangoindian) August 19, 2024

Earlier, Ganguly had said that his initial statements may have been misconstrued or misinterpreted.

""I said that last Sunday, I don't know how it was construed or interpreted. I have said it earlier also, it's a terrible thing. Now the CBI, police are investigating the matter. It's very shameful what has happened," Ganguly had said to reporters.

"The punishment should be such that no one dares to commit such crime again in their life. That is important. Punishment has to be severe," he had added.

Now, the responsibility of the investigation into the Kolkata doctor's rape-murder case, has been handed over to two of the CBI's top women officers, who have handled a few such notorious cases earlier, with considerable success. The overall charge belongs Sampat Meena, a 1994 batch IPS officer from Jharkhand, who handled the Hathras rape-murder case and the Unnao rape case. With her is officer Seema Pahuja, who was also part of the Hathras investigation team.