The West Bengal Police on Saturday arrested a 20-year-old man for alleged rape and murder of a minor girl in North Dinajpur’s Kaliaganj, PTI reported.
The girl’s body was found in a pond on Friday, a day after she went missing. Her family alleged that she was raped before being murdered, according to The Indian Express.
The incident triggered a protest by locals which turned violent on Saturday. Several shops and e-rickshaws were set on fire by the mob, prompting the police to use tear gas shells and batons against the protestors, according to PTI. Three persons were injured in police action.
Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student body of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, also staged a demonstration at the the Kaliaganj Police Station. Sukanta Majumdar, the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s West Bengal unit, also protested outside the office of the superintendent of the police.
On Saturday, the West Bengal Police said that the accused in the case has been identified as Javed Akhtar, whom the girl knew, according to PTI.
Superintendent of Police Mohammad Sana Akhtar said that a case has been filed under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, on a complaint filed by the girl’s mother.
Akhtar also said that the preliminary post-mortem report suggests that the girl had no injuries, adding that a bottle of poison was found near the body. “We are investigating the case from all angles,” he said.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Shashi Panja accused the BJP of misleading and instigating the locals, reported PTI.
She also said that BJP leader and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari identified the minor while tweeting about the incident.
“The BJP is trying to play dirty politics,” Panja said. “The Leader of Opposition has divulged the identity of the victim girl through his tweets is itself a crime. How can he do that? They are playing ‘dead body politics’.”
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