Two e-rickshaw drivers arrested in separate rape, murder of minors in WB
Saumitra Roy nabbed from Kolkata for raping and murdering a 14-year-old. Muhammad Ghulam Masood was arrested in north Bengal, for drugging and raping a 13-year-old
Kolkata: Two e-rickshaw drivers were arrested on Sunday in separate cases of rape and murder of minors in West Bengal, police said.
Saumitra Roy (22) was nabbed from the eastern outskirts of Kolkata for allegedly raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl.
“The girl had left her New Town home around 10 pm on Thursday after a quarrel with her mother. The girl wandered on the streets before asking Roy to take her home. Locals found her body the next morning,” a police officer from Bidhan Nagar police station said, requesting anonymity.
The security camera footages scanned by police showed the girl stopping Roy’s e-rickshaw and boarding it.
“The postmortem report said the girl was strangled to death. During interrogation, Roy said that he drove to a desolate place where he committed the crime around 2am on Friday. We are investigating whether Roy had an accomplice,” officer added.
The girl’s father alleged that Roy is not a local resident. “His home is in Nadia district. He took advantage that my daughter did not know the roads and was lost. Her body was found around 16 km away from our home,” the father said.
On Sunday, police also arrested Muhammad Ghulam Masood (27) in Jalpaiguri, north Bengal, for allegedly drugging and raping a 13-year-old on January 21, police said.
“The girl’s family had hired Masood to drop and pick her up from school daily. On January 21, Masood allegedly gave the girl a chocolate laced with drugs and took her to a desolate location. After raping the minor, he threatened her with dire consequences if she told anyone,” a district police officer said.
The girl’s mother became suspicious on Saturday when she found a pregnancy test kit in her school bag. When questioned, the girl revealed the truth, and the family filed a police complaint.
Both arrests were made under various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita (BNS).