Kumarganj rape: Victim's family gets compensation

BALURGHAT: The mother of the 17-year-old minor girl, who was allegedly gang-raped and then burnt alive by three youths on January 5 in Kumarganj, received a cheque of Rs 4,12,500 as compensation from the state government on Saturday.

The victim's mother who was accompanied by her husband and son collected the cheque from the vice-chairman of North Bengal Development Department Arpita Ghosh in presence of District Magistrate Nikhil Nirmal, district police chief Debarshi Dutta and MLA of Kumarganj Toraf Hussein Mondal at the district magistrate's chamber at Balurghat district administrative building.

The bereaved mother, who burst into tears while receiving the cheque from Arpita Ghosh, said: "A mother lost her daughter. I want my daughter back. Nothing can be compensated in place of a living person. However, we are grateful to the state government for the compensation. The accused who are responsible for the heinous crime should be hanged to death without any delay."

Demanding exemplary punishment for the accused, a visibly overwhelmed Arpita Ghosh said: "As a common person, I want death sentence should be given to the culprits. It was unfortunate and the accused should receive exemplary punishment otherwise we will not be able to stop the repetition of the same incident in future."

It may be mentioned that the body of the teenager was recovered under a culvert at Kumarganj on January 6 while three youths Mahabur Mian, Pankaj Barman and Goutam Barman were arrested following a complaint lodged by the victim's family.

The Balurghat court had sentenced the trio to 10 days police remand after the petition was filed in court

seeking police remand as part of further investigation in the case.

District Magistrate Nikhil Nirmal said: "The state government has granted the compensation through Backward Classes Welfare Department as per provisions as the minor girl belonged to Scheduled Caste category. District police has

initiated prompt action and

the accused were arrested. Police investigation is still ongoing and I hope the chargesheet against the trio will be produced in court in due time."