'Politics With Child's Body': Bengal Child Rights Body Slams Central Panel

The West Bengal police this morning, while appealing to the people to not share misinformation regarding the death of a teenager, said the post-mortem report shows poisoning as the cause of death. No major injury marks were found on the body of the 17-year-old to suggest sexual assault either, police sources said. The incident, which led to the arrest of two people, triggered violent protests and police action on two consecutive days as locals claimed the victim was raped and murdered.

The police say given the sensitivity of the case, a three-member team was formed to conduct the post-mortem and the entire process has been videographed as well.

Soon after the post-mortem report came out, the West Bengal child rights body accused its central counterpart of doing politics "with the dead bodies of children" and "blatantly" violating laws to malign the state.

"Doing politics with the dead bodies of children in West Bengal by the keepers of child rights! Shameful NCPCR!" the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) tweeted.

WBCPCR chairperson Sudeshna Roy this morning visited the area of the alleged crime, amid road blockades, and collected reports on the incident.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had sent a fact-finding team to Kaliyaganj in West Bengal amidst anger over the alleged rape and murder of the teenager, whose body was found on Friday morning.

NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo also reached Kolkata on Saturday and said the West Bengal Police should be more sensitive in handling child issues and the state should ensure law and order.

The state child rights body accused the NCPCR of violating the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) Act and entering West Bengal illegally.

"Ignoring the presence of the state commission for Protection of child rights, the ncpcr blatantly violates the cpcr act and enters WB illegally with the sole purpose of maligning the state. Shameful" it tweeted.

The incident came to light on Friday morning when the teenager's body was found on the banks of a pond in Kaliyaganj town of the Uttar Dinajpur district. West Bengal police said the post-mortem noted that the death was "due to the effects of poisonous substances ingested".

The BJP has attacked the Trinamool Congress-led state government over the incident. State BJP chief and Balurghat MP Sukanta Majumdar yesterday visited the victim's family and alleged the police were incapable of investigating the incident.

The BJP has 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. Police said the body was to be retrieved safely 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.

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".

NCPCR had earlier 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 chairperson of the National Commission for Women has also 
written to the Bengal Director General of Police to personally intervene in the matter and ensure a fair and time-bound investigation.

Police have filed a murder case, and added provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act as well.