Kolkata:
Days after a teenager in West Bengal was allegedly gang-raped twice and burnt alive by men known to the rapists, a schoolgirl has been allegedly gang-raped in the same district near Kolkata.
A class 10 student was allegedly gang-raped on Friday night in by three men who reportedly took pictures on their mobile phones and threatened to make them public if the girl complained. The men were arrested after the 19-year-old girl, who is married, filed an FIR.
The alleged gang-rape took place in Gaighata, which is in the same district as Madhyamgram, where a 16-year-old died on December 31 after being set on fire by men known to a gang of six men who had raped her twice. In her dying statement to the police, she said two men had poured kerosene and set her afire on December 23.
The police have been accused of trying to cover up her allegations and make a grotesque attempt to force a cremation to stop a public funeral procession. Her parents met President Pranab Mukherjee last week and will today meet Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has offered them compensation. The family is originally from Bihar.
The state's Trinamool Congress government, still battling allegations of failing to protect the Madhyamgram teenager, has this time promptly posted security at the girl's house. Two state ministers have visited the student and assured her family of all help.