Five apprehended in gang rape of minor tribal girl in Kushmandi; 1 still absconding
BALURGHAT: Police have arrested five of the six accused in connection with the alleged gang rape of a minor tribal girl at Kushmandi block in South Dinajpur. The incident took place on Tuesday night during a village fair organised on the occasion of Lakshmi Puja.
According to police sources, the victim, an eighth-grade pass-out, is the youngest of four sisters. Her father died a few years ago and the family survives on meagre earnings from their small plot of land and her mother’s daily labour. The girl had completed Class VIII from a local junior high school but had not enrolled in Class IX.
On Tuesday night, she went to the fair with her mother to watch a cultural programme. Around 9 pm, feeling sleepy, she started heading home with her friends, who escorted her part of the way. Just about 100 metres before her house, a group of 10 to 15 youths allegedly gagged her and forcibly took her to an under construction building nearby. Police said that several of them raped her while others stood guard outside. bA relative of the victim later spotted a torchlight movement inside the house and raised the alarm, causing the accused to flee. The traumatised girl managed to reach her mother at the fairground and narrated the incident.
The two returned home and the girl’s mother lodged a complaint at Kushmandi Police Station around 9 pm on Wednesday. Following the complaint, the police rescued the girl, admitted her to Kushmandi hospital for treatment and launched an overnight manhunt. Five of the accused, including a YouTuber and a minor boy, were apprehended. The minor has been sent to the district juvenile court, while the others were produced before the Gangarampur Sub-Divisional Court on Thursday. The judge granted five days of police custody for interrogation.
South Dinajpur Superintendent of Police Chinmay Mittal told Millennium Post: “The incident occurred around 9 pm on Tuesday. Acting on the complaint received on Wednesday, we arrested five out of six accused that night. One is still absconding and efforts are on to trace him. Investigation is in progress.”
