The aunt of the victim said that the girl went missing while coming back from the tuition on Friday. Later, the villagers found her body from the riverbank.
Amid tensions flaring up in a village in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, the family of the Class 4 student who was allegedly raped and murdered while returning home from tuition claimed that her body had “several injuries on the body, and her limbs seemed to be broken”.
The aunt of the victim said that the girl went missing while coming back from the tuition on Friday. Later, the villagers found her body on the bank of the River Ganges in Kripakhali village on Saturday morning, triggering widespread protest against the state police for inaction.
The aunt also accused the police of refusing to listen to their complaint and neglecting the matter. “Her father tried to find her everywhere, but when he was not able to find her. After this, he went to the police station, but the police refused to listen to him and asked him to go to the Jayanagar Police station…The police neglected the matter,” she told news agency ANI.
Police Clarify Their Stand
Baruipur Superintendent of Police Palash Dhali said they lodged a complaint after her family approached them because the victim did not return home from her tuition until 8 pm.
“Yesterday evening the girl went out and when she did not return home till 8 pm, the family approached the police and lodged a complaint. Yesterday itself we started the investigation. After investigation, today we detained a person, he said that he had killed the girl,” the police said.
As part of the investigation, police are also looking into whether the child was sexually assaulted before her death.
Rupantar Goswami, additional superintendent of police, confirmed, “One suspect has been arrested. The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination, and we will be checking for any signs of sexual assault. The motive behind the abduction and killing is still unclear.”
Massive Protest Erupts In Bengal
After the recovery of the body of the victim, a massive protest erupted in the city. The agitators ransacked the Mahishmari police outpost and set it on fire, alleging that the police were initially dilly-dallying. The accused’s house was also ransacked.
The BJP trained guns against the state government led by Chief Mamata Banerjee and accused it of a “deteriorating law and order situation” in West Bengal.
BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar expressed his shock over the tragic incident and wrote on X: “A Class IV student was brutally raped and murdered while returning from tuition in the Kripakhali area of Kultali Police Station. Villagers later found her body by the river. My question to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has failed to protect women, is: will there be no relief for the girls of Bengal even at the start of Devi Paksha? How many more Bengali girls will suffer this fate under your misrule?”
BJP leader Shehzad Poonwalla also slammed the state government over an alleged attempt to cover up the case. “Under Mamata Banerjee no Maa Maati Manush or Mahila is safe….Only rapists are…..A Class 4 girl has been raped and murdered on her way back home from tuition at a village in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district,” he said on X.
“Angry villagers attacked the Kultali PS since they refused to take the complaint lest they upset Home Minister Mamata Banerjee. From RG Kar’s case to this- institutional cover-up and Balatkari Bachao are the only agenda of the TMC govt. Mamata Banerjee must Go”, he added in his X post.
The incident follows another tragic incident at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital where a trainee doctor was raped and murdered on August 9. The protest that started a month back continues with a demand for justice to the victim.
