Bengal: 3 held for minor’s rape and murder, family alleges police inaction

The girl’s partially decomposed body was recovered from a septic tank near the house of one of the accused on Thursday, nine days after her father lodged her missing report.

The West Bengal police have arrested three people in the state’s Jalpaiguri district for allegedly raping and murdering a 16-year-old girl even as her family alleged inaction and said she could have been saved had action been taken on time and one of the accused not released initially after questioning.

Police said the interrogation of the accused has revealed that the girl was raped on August 15 before they killed her and dumped the body in the septic tank. (File photo: @WBPolice)

The girl’s partially decomposed body was recovered from a septic tank near the house of one of the accused on Thursday, nine days after her father lodged her missing report. The family said police detained the accused on the basis of her father’s complaint but released him after questioning.

On Friday, local residents staged a demonstration in front of a police station alleging inaction. They alleged that police did little to prevent the crime despite being alerted by the girl’s family and save the girl, who was alive for at least five days after she went missing on August 10.

Khageswar Roy, the local ruling Trinamool Congress lawmaker, supported the family, saying the police acted casually and could have saved the girl if they had acted seriously. “It is a heinous crime. Police officials, who were supposed to find the girl, took it casually. The police are saying that the girl was raped on August 15 and then murdered. This means she was alive till August 15 and could have been saved had the police acted immediately on the complaint and took it seriously,” said Roy.

Jalpaiguri police superintendent Pradeep Kumar Yadav promised action. “We will conduct an inquiry against the officers involved. If the allegations of negligence of duty are found to be true, strict action would be taken,” said Yadav.

He cited the statement of two of the accused and said they took the girl to a house on August 10 and sexually assaulted her along with another accomplice. “All the accused live in the neighbouring villages and are aged around 30-35,” said Yadav.

Police said the interrogation of the accused has revealed that the girl was raped on August 15 before they killed her and dumped the body in the septic tank.

“The court has sent them in police custody for eight days. The accused would be interrogated to get further details,” said another police officer.