9-year-old girl raped and killed in Bengal : Villagers set a Police station ablaze

Enraged villagers take extreme step due to negligence by the Police

South 24 Parganas (Bengal) – After the rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl in Kripakhali village of South 24 Parganas District, angry villagers set ablaze the Mahismari Police station.

1. The girl had gone to tutoring class in the afternoon of October 4. When she did not return home, the family started searching for her; but as she was not found, they filed a missing complaint with the Police. The local Police asked them to file a report in another Police station. On the same night, the girl’s body was found in a lake near the village, causing tension in the area.

2. On the morning of October 5, the villagers laid siege to the local Police station. At this time, Sub Divisional Police Officer Atish Biswas was present. The villagers pelted stones at the Police. They tried to hold the Police officers as hostage. A Police officer said that people vandalised several vehicles parked outside the Police station. Seeing the anger of the people, the Police left the station and ran away. After this, an additional Police force was sent to the area and they burst teargas canisters on the villagers. The rioters vandalised the Police station and set it on fire. The Police resorted to baton-charge to disperse the crowd.

3. We will continue our agitation until all the accused in the rape and murder case of our daughter are not punished, people said. Action should also be taken against Police officers who delayed taking action. People claimed that if the Police had taken immediate action, the girl could have been saved.

4. When local MLA Ganesh Mondal tried to pacify the villagers, the villagers chased him away. Mondal later told the media that he understood the public’s anger; but they should not take the law into their hands.

5. Police said that they had identified the accused and arrested him. He has admitted to committing the crime. As soon as we got information about the crime, we took prompt action. However, if there are allegations from people, we will certainly look into that as well.

6. BJP leader and Union Minister Sukanto Majumdar criticised and said that if the Durga at home is not safe, then which Durga should be worshipped ? All this is happening because of Mamata Banerjee. Banerjee has incited the Police not to register a crime easily.