TMC panchayat leader’s son held for minor’s rape in Bengal village
Local people and the girl’s family told the police that she knew the accused and had gone to his residence to attend his birthday party. The family alleged that the girl was forced to drink alcohol before being raped.
The Nadia district police on Saturday arrested the son of a Trinamool Congress (TMC) panchayat leader in connection with the alleged rape of a teenage girl who died hours after the crime, police said.
The crime took place in the Hanskhali area of Nadia on the night of April 4. The girl, a class 9 student, died the next day.
Local people and the girl’s family told the police that she knew the accused and had gone to his residence to attend his birthday party. The family alleged that the girl was forced to drink alcohol before being raped.
“The family did not lodge any complaint. The victim died hours after the crime. The police were informed after she was cremated,” said a district police officer who did not want to be named.
The police arrested Braja Gopal Gayali, the accused. His father, Samarendra Gayali, is a member of a TMC-controlled panchayat, the officer said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called a 12-hour bandh at Hanskhali on Monday. Bengal BJP leader Debjit Sarkar alleged that the family was threatened and forced to stay silent.
“The cremation was done in a hurry so that a post mortem could not be conducted,” alleged Sarkar.
Forest minister Jyotipriya Mullick said, “The guilty will not be spared by the administration. He will be punished.”
The local BJP is alleging that it's a case of gang rape. The police arrested another suspect on Sunday night but his name was not disclosed.
