A 20-year-old man was arrested on Saturday in reference to the alleged rape and homicide of a teenage woman in West Bengal’s North Dinajpur district that triggered violent protests, police mentioned. The 17-year-old woman, whose physique was present in a canal in Kaliaganj police station space on Friday, knew the person, Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Sana Akhtar mentioned, figuring out him because the prime accused. A case has been filed beneath IPC part 302 (homicide) and related sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act based mostly on the grievance filed by the woman’s mom, he mentioned.
The preliminary autopsy report revealed no harm to the physique, Akhtar mentioned, including {that a} bottle of poison was discovered close to the physique. “We are investigating the case from all angles,” he mentioned.
Violence rocked Kaliaganj, round 18 km from the Bangladesh border, as locals protested towards the incident, prompting the police to make use of tear gasoline shells and cost batons to deliver the scenario beneath management, officers mentioned. Several outlets and e-rickshaws have been set on fireplace by the mob, which demanded the arrest of these behind the incident. Roads have been additionally blocked and stones have been hurled on the police, they mentioned. The RSS-backed ABVP gheraoed the Kaliaganj police station, whereas BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar sat on a dharna exterior the SP workplace in Raiganj, demanding justice for the sufferer’s household.
Rapid Action Force (RAF) was deployed to deliver the scenario beneath management, police mentioned, including that a number of protestors have been additionally detained. Three individuals have been injured within the police motion and admitted to the Raiganj Government Medical College and Hospital, officers mentioned. Majumdar, who visited the sufferer’s village together with native BJP MP Debasree Chaudhuri, demanded a CBI investigation into the incident. “We think the real truth will be revealed only if a CBI inquiry is conducted in this case,” he informed reporters.
In this video, the physique West Bengal Police is insensitively dragging is that of a minor rape and homicide sufferer from the Rajbongshi neighborhood in Uttar Dinajpur’s Kaliaganj. Such haste is commonly seen when the aim is to get rid of or dilute proof and canopy up the crime… pic.twitter.com/zgz2Rxlik1
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) April 22, 2023
State Minister for Women and Child Development and Social Welfare, Dr Shashi Panja hit out on the BJP management, significantly Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, for figuring out the minor in his tweets. She alleged that the saffron get together leaders have been making an attempt to instigate the folks by deceptive them.
“The BJP is trying to play dirty politics. That the Leader of Opposition (LoP) has divulged the identity of the victim girl through his tweets is itself a crime. How can he do that? They are playing dead body politics (sic),” Panja mentioned.
The minister additional mentioned the autopsy report would clear whether or not the woman was raped and killed or whether or not she died by suicide by consuming poison. “At the moment, police are trying to bring the law and order under control. We must think about the mental condition of the family. Culprits will definitely be brought to the book,” Panja mentioned.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) additionally despatched a staff to the world, and sought a report from the state police inside three days.
The woman went lacking on Thursday night after she left residence for going to her tuition courses. Her physique was discovered the following day floating in a canal amid hectic searches by her household and locals.
Protests had began on Friday afternoon however quietened down by the day-end, solely to restart on Saturday.Â
