Fresh Violence In Bengal's Kaliyaganj Over Alleged Rape And Murder of Teenager

Fresh violence has been reported from Kaliyaganj in West Bengal amidst anger over the alleged rape and murder of a teenager whose body was found on Friday morning. The police had to use force and fire tear gas shells again to bring the situation under control, and more forces have been deployed in the area to maintain calm. 

State BJP chief and Balurghat MP Sukanta Majumdar visited the victim's family today and alleged the police were incapable of investigating the incident. 

কালিয়াগঞ্জে নাবালিকা রাজবংশী মেয়েকে গণধর্ষণ করে নৃশংসভাবে হত্যা করা হয়। ধর্ষিতা পরিবারের সঙ্গে দেখা করলেন রাজ্য সভাপতি ডঃ @DrSukantaBJP, সাংসদ @DebasreeBJP ও @khagen_murmu বিধায়ক গোপাল চন্দ্র সাহা, সত্যেন্দ্রনাথ রায়, চিন্ময়দেব বর্মন ও শ্রীরূপা মিত্র চৌধুরী। pic.twitter.com/S19YFNucha

— BJP Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) April 22, 2023

Meanwhile, the BJP is using the incident to attack the Trinamool Congress-led government, alleging that the police did not allow them to meet the victim's family earlier. They've also claimed that the police were suppressing and diluting evidence and that the victim's body was dragged in such a manner which wasn't dignified.

Police sources have countered by saying they had to recover the body from an extremely volatile law and order situation to preserve evidence that is important in the investigation and ensure a post-mortem was conducted without delay. 

The incident came to light on Friday morning when the teenager's body was discovered on the banks of a pond in Kaliyaganj town of the Uttar Dinajpur district. Locals found the body of the minor, who had gone missing. The police reached the spot to recover the body and sent it for postmortem.

On Friday, locals staged a protest demanding justice for her. When the police reached the spot, they claim they had to brave violence and stone pelting by angry mobs to retrieve the body. The police fired tear gas shells to dissipate the situation.

The police say the body has to be retrieved in a safe manner to ensure minimal contamination of evidence, and they tried to do that. Unfortunately, there was violence in that area, they said, and they were forced to fire tear gas shells.

"Police had to use tear gas at the protesters to recover the victim's body from them to ensure an early post-mortem so that important evidence is not lost. We have also formed a medical board to investigate the matter properly. The incident will be properly investigated," Dinajpur Superintendent of Police Sana Akhtar said.

Police claim they managed to retrieve the body before any evidence could be damaged. They have restricted the movement of politicians. The BJP alleges that local Trinamool politicians have been allowed in the area while they are being stopped from visiting.

The area is calm right now, police said, adding that there is an investigation underway.

Earlier on Saturday, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) also took cognisance of the matter and said it would send a fact-finding team to conduct an inquiry.

A statement issued by the NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo's office read, "We have received information about the gang-rape incident and murder of a girl child in North Dinajpur in West Bengal. We have received a lot of information from many sources. It is a heinous murder, and we are going to investigate it. I myself will go to North Dinajpur with my team".

It added, "Our team will reach there tomorrow. We will investigate this incident by going there tomorrow evening. We are trying to contact the government through the governor's house to cooperate with us in the investigation. This is a case of murder of a girl child and getting her justice."

NCPCR also alleged that the Chief Secretary of the state and the North Dinajpur Collector are not responding despite the body informing them about the incident.

The statement further stated that punishing the culprits is the only way to stop such incidents in West Bengal.