The girl's family with the National Commission for Women chairperson Mamta Sharma. (File pic)
The parents of the 16-year-old girl who was allegedly gang-raped and murdered in West Bengal, left for Patna on Sunday where they hope to meet Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Nitish Kumar earlier had announced an ex-gratia grant of Rs 1 lakh for the girl's family and deputed senior Bihar Police officer G.S. Gangwar to meet her parents in Kolkata.
"We had expressed our wish to Gangwar about meeting Nitish Kumar. We are leaving for Patna on Sunday and hope to meet the chief minister who has shown solidarity for our cause," said the victim's father, a taxi driver.
"Had the Bengal government been sympathetic towards us, the need to meet the president or others would have never risen," said the man.
Alleging that the West Bengal Police were forcing them to leave West Bengal, the family had met President Pranab Mukherjee last week seeking death penalty for the culprits.
Originally hailing from Bihar's Samastipur, the family had migrated to Madhyamgram in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district in search of livelihood.
The minor was allegedly gang-raped twice in October last year and set on the fire by the associates of the accused on December 23. She succumbed to her injuries on December 31.
The father has also approached the Calcutta High Court demanding the matter be probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Meanwhile, several civil rights groups and a section of city's intelligentsia including veteran academician Sunanda Sanyal, and scientist Partha Sarathi Ray, organised a rally in Kolkata during the day protesting against the rising crime against women and government apathy.