Youth rapes, incises girl for refusal to marriage

A youth allegedly raped a girl and slashed her body with a sharp weapon, reportedly after the victim refused to marry him at New Town in North 24 Parganas on Sunday. Meanwhile, a similar incident happened at South 24 Parganas' Jibantala on Monday when the local residents found the body of a girl behind a roadside bush. The family members of the girl, who was missing from Sunday night, alleged that their daughter was raped and killed.

The victim in New Town was taken to a hospital in a critical condition. While describing the incident to the woman police officers, the girl informed that the youth abducted her from the road. He took her to a house and raped her there. The girl tried hard to resist him which made the youth angry. He then slashed her both arms and other portions of the body and even tried to choke her with a piece of cloth.

"The youth escaped from the spot and the victim was lying there in an unconscious state. The neighbours, who were searching for the missing girl, later found her in that house. They took her to the hospital," said a police officer.

Police learnt that the youth, a resident of New Town's Shantimoynagar, had proposed the girl twice or thrice for marriage. But he was refused straightway every time. Recently, the youth threatened her not to come out of the house.

"The girl was going to her maternal uncle's house on Sunday when she was abducted by the accused youth. We've also learnt that youth is a local syndicate member," the officer added. In South 24 Parganas, local residents of Jibantala found the body of a girl lying on the roadside. The residents called up the police and the police took the body for post-mortem.

The relatives and family members of the girl alleged that she was raped and then killed. "My daughter was abducted from our house when she was staying alone on Sunday. Some local youth are involved in this case and they raped and killed her," said the mother of the deceased.

"We are waiting for the autopsy report to come," said an investigator.

It may be mentioned that incidents of hurting women after refusal to marriage or some indecent proposal is on the rise all over the country. While a certain section of society call for punitive action against accused to stop these crimes, a certain section of people feel that it is not the severity of the punishment that will help, rather the surety of punishment will bring an end to such violence.