West Bengal gang-rape: victim's family meets President, demands CBI probe

New Delhi: The family of a 16-year-old from West Bengal, who was gang-raped twice in October and died after being set on fire on December 23 allegedly by men known to the rapists, today met President Pranab Mukherjee and demanded CBI probe into the incident.

Accompanied by Communist Party of India-Marxist or CPM leaders, the girl's father, who is a taxi driver in Kolkata, alleged that they were threatened by the police which asked them to "forget the case". The family has also accused the Mamata Banerjee government of being silent on the matter.

Six people have been arrested so far in the case. Two among them were accused by the girl of setting her on fire in her dying declaration. She died on December 31.

Choking as he spoke, the girl's father Rama Shankar Jha said, "If I had got support from the state government, I wouldn't have come all the way to Delhi. Forget the government, not even a Councillor came to our help. I want the accused to be given the death penalty." The family's pleas for protection have been in vain so far.

"The President has said accountability must be fixed in this case. He assured he will ask the Home Ministry to look into this," Jagmati Sangwan of All India Democratic Women's Association told NDTV.

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Anand Jha, the girl's relative, alleged that the police did not act in spite of serious charges against the accused, "We kept asking them to take her to a burns ward but they delayed even that. Police were in a hurry to cremate her body; they didn't help when she was lying in hospital. Besides, we are constantly being told to go back to Bihar."

Today, the girl's family also approached the National Commission for Women which reportedly assured them that a committee will visit Kolkata soon to inquire into the family's allegations against both the government and the police.

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