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CBI breaks into Bengal gang rape accused’s home to collect evidence
The Hanskhali rape has rocked the state since last week. Brajagopal was arrested on April 10 by the Nadia district police. His friend and alleged accomplice Prabhakar Poddar was arrested on April 12, hours before the Calcutta high court ordered the CBI probe.
A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team on Thursday broke into the house of the principal accused in the alleged gang rape and death of a 14-year-old girl at Hanskhali in Bengal’s Nadia district last week, officials aware of the development said.
Central Forensic Science Laboratory staff who accompanied the CBI officials collected samples from the house and examined the mattress on a bed on which the alleged gang rape took place on the night of April 4. The victim, a class 9 student, died the next morning, allegedly due to excessive bleeding.
Officials said the house was locked from outside and there was no trace of the owner, local TMC panchayat member Samarendra Gayali, whose son Brajagopal is the main accused. The CID team was led by deputy inspector general of police Akhilesh Singh who also spoke to the victim’s parents.
The Hanskhali rape has rocked the state since last week. Brajagopal was arrested on April 10 by the Nadia district police. His friend and alleged accomplice Prabhakar Poddar was arrested on April 12, hours before the Calcutta high court ordered the CBI probe.
The CBI procured a copy of the first information report (FIR) that the district police had registered. The district police brought charges of gang rape, murder and tampering of evidence against the accused, said a district police officer. Charges were also brought under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
A district court on Thursday granted the CBI’s plea to take the two accused in its custody.
Brajagopal had invited the minor to his residence on April 4 to attend his birthday party. The victim was taken home late in the night by an unidentified woman. She died hours later. The victim’s parents alleged that the girl was forced to drink alcohol before being raped.
Her father also alleged that Brajagopal forcefully cremated the body and threatened to kill him if he went to the police.
The victim was cremated without any death certificate and post mortem.
“Brajagopal Gayali held a gun to my chest and took away my daughter’s body to cremate her within an hour of her death. They did not even let me leave the house,” the victim’s father told a television channel on Wednesday.
His statement triggered an uproar since the chief minister had earlier suggested that the victim and the accused were having an affair and it was public knowledge in the village.
On April 11, Banerjee targeted the media for highlighting the arrest of the TMC panchayat leader’s son.
“I talked to the police. Even police do not know till now how she died. I asked the police whether they think this was rape? Or, was she pregnant? Or, was it a love affair?” she said at a government event in Kolkata.
The victim’s parents – whose confidential statements were recorded by a magistrate at the Nadia district court on April 11 - dismissed the chief minister’s statements and said their child was not pregnant.
While passing its order on a petition, the division bench of Calcutta high court chief justice Prakash Srivastava and justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj made strong observations.
“… We are of the opinion that in order to have a fair investigation in the matter and to instill confidence in the family members of the victim and also the residents of the locality and the state, the investigation should be carried out by the CBI instead of the local police,” said the order.
Justice Srivastava also asked why the police registered a case five days after the alleged crime. The court asked the CBI to file its preliminary report during the next hearing on May 2.
The TMC has distanced itself from the accused.
TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said, “The local police did not take into consideration the identity of the accused’s father while making the arrests.”
