Kolkata: With the situation at Kaliagunj in West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district taking a turn for the worse following the alleged rape and murder of a teenager, prohibitory orders were promulgated on Sunday to thwart any further untoward incident.
The West Bengal Police on Saturday arrested a 20-year-old man for the alleged rape and murder of a minor girl in North Dinajpur’s Kaliaganj, according to reports. Another arrest has also been made in the case.
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, several media reports stated.
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 protesters. Three persons have been injured in the incident.
The prohibitory orders have been clamped under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Police had to requisition more forces to bring the volatile situation under control and maintain peace. On Saturday, the West Bengal Police added that the accused in the case has been identified as Javed Akhtar, whom the girl knew.
Superintendent of Police Mohammad Sana Akhtar said 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 said: “Two persons have been arrested in connection with this crime. After producing them, we have taken them for 14 days of police remand. We are keeping a close tab on the law and order situation. Everything is under control. Police and Rapid Action Force personnel have been deployed to the areas to curb any untoward incident.”
Meanwhile, State Minister for Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Shashi Panja accused the BJP of misleading and instigating the locals. 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’.”
Meanwhile, the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) alleged that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) team violated Section 144 imposed in Kaliaganj due to the unrest that erupted after the alleged killing of a minor, by taking “a large contingent of media persons” with them to the victim’s house.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) had taken cognisance of a video that was circulated on social media of the police taking the body of the teenager and had sought a report. A team of the state child rights commission had also visited the spot on Saturday and met the family members of the deceased. The team was headed by its chairperson Sudeshna Roy. They had taken cognisance of the matter. They informed that the state government would take all appropriate measures against the offenders. Later, on the same day, the NCPCR team headed by chairperson Priyank Kanoongo also reached Bagdogra and told the media that he was on his way to visit the family.
Kanoongo, as per his social media post, met with the family members on Sunday morning. He, in his tweet, alleged that the team was supposed to meet the investigating police officers, doctors who had conducted the autopsy at Circuit House in Raiganj at 11:30 am but no officials had arrived. Kanoongo also alleged that the victim’s family members have told him that the police have not taken statements from the victim’s family members yet. “Until the police take the statements of the victim’s family members, they should not reach any conclusion.”
The Commission on Sunday tweeted: “The NCPCR team is taking a large contingent of media persons with them to the victim’s house in Kaliaganj in complete violation of section 144 in place there! Shameful.” Over social media, they also criticised NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo, who was heading the team, for commenting on the state of children and women in the state.
“He is making provocative comments without verifying facts. This could lead to a law and order situation,” they wrote in another tweet. They have criticised the National Child Rights Commission for having taken the media to the victim’s family, who according to the WBCPCR has pleaded to be left alone to mourn.
After Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders for doing politics over a dead body, the state commission tweeted accusations of the NCPCR of doing politics with “the dead bodies of children in West Bengal.”