Three held in Sagar rape and murder case

Three youth were arrested in connection with the rape and murder of a class X student whose body was found hanging from a tree at Sagar in South 24-Parganas on Tuesday morning.

Police said the accused Subhodip Pradhan, Asit Sardar and Dulal Das were arrested from their residences in the same locality after preliminary investigation revealed their involvement in the crime.

A senior police officer said one of the three youth had proposed the girl to get engage into an affair. But the girl had turned down his proposal. The youth continued to disturb her and even threatened her with dire consequences for refusing to accept his proposal.

He had finally made a plan to rape her. He chalked out a plan with two of his friends and kidnapped her while she was returning after taking private tuition.

One of them was waiting outside the coaching centre where she used to go for private tuition. He contacted the two others as soon as the girl came out from there. He followed the victim till she reached a desserted place where the two others were waiting on a motorbike.

They had forcefully taken the girl on their motorbike in a hideout where they had raped her. The girl was traumatised and she had threatened to commit suicide after disclosing their names to all. Apprehending that they will be caught, the trio killed her on Tuesday night and they hanged her body to make people believe that the girl had committed suicide.

However, police are still waiting for the post-mortem report. They have questioned some of her friends and came to know about the trio. They were remanded in police custody before producing them at court.

Some local people had put up a road block on Wednesday protesting against the incident. The victim’s neighbours also ransacked valuables at the houses of three accused. A large contingent of police was pressed into service to control the situation.

Police pickets have also been posted to maintain law and order in the area. The victim’s family members demanded maximum punishment of the accused. The family members of the accused, however, refused to believe the allegations brought against the trio.