Four arrested in minor girl gang-rape case

Police arrested four persons on Sunday in connection with the alleged gang-rape and murder at Ratua in Malda.

On Friday the body of a minor girl, who was missing for the past three days, was found inside a club room, situated in a market complex.

There were injury marks all over her body and there were blood stains all over the floor of the club.

Senior police officers went to the spot on Sunday morning and questioned some of the local people.

Investigation revealed that some of the local youth had helped the prime accused to commit the crime.

Subsequently, police conducted raids in their houses and arrested all four of them who had assisted the prime accused to continue the torture of the girl for three days.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the four arrested youth were well aware that some local miscreants had kidnapped the girl and confined her in the club room.

They didn't disclose it despite knowing that the victim's parents were searching for the girl. Instead, they attempted to mislead her family members saying that they had not seen the girl come towards the club.

Police found that eighteen shops were being built on the plot where the club is situated. There were takers only for three shops which remain open till late night.

Every night, some of the miscreants gather in front of the shops and allegedly consume alcohol openly and don't pay heed to the objections of local people.

A police officer said that the four arrested youth seem to be well aware about the whereabouts of the prime accused who are at large.

The investigating officer of the case was also changed on Sunday and senior police officers have been engaged to arrest the prime accused as early as possible.

A police officer said some of the club members will be questioned considering that they were well aware about the kidnapping of the girl as they were known to be close to the prime accused.

In an earlier incident, a Class VIII girl was allegedly gang-raped by some of her friends at Belda in West Midnapore on March 8.

Police said that one of the accused came to her house in the evening on Wednesday and asked her to come along with him to his house as

some more friends had assembled there.

The victim was told that some girls, who studies in her class, also came there to have food together as one of them had birthday on Wednesday.

But she found no one apart from the three accused youth when she went to the house. She fell unconscious after having spiked cold drinks which the accused had offered to her and the youth allegedly raped her after she was senseless