West Bengal is in turmoil after back-to-back deaths of two minor girls; first in Kaliaganj, North Dinajpur and now in Malda. In the recent death, the body of a minor was found on farmland in Uzirpur of Kaliachak police station area in Malda town. Notably, the police officials can be seen manhandling the corpse of the minor the same way they did a few days back in Kaliaganj.
The identity of the minor is not yet known. Some of the local residents claim that the minor was brought from outside and raped and killed. However, the police said that the whole matter is being investigated.
The chairperson for the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Priyank Kanoongo, from his official Twitter account, shared the video of how police officers were dealing with the dead girl.
Kanoongo wrote, “Today again a girl child has been found dead in Kaliachak, Malda of West Bengal, whom the police is again taking away in this humiliating manner.
@MamataOfficial ji’s government is proving incapable of protecting the girls, and is not even able to protect the dignity of their dead bodies.”
आज फिर पश्चिम बंगाल के कलियाचक,माल्दा में एक बच्ची मृत मिली है,जिसको पुलिस फिर इस अपमान जनक तरह से ले कर जा रही है।@MamataOfficial जी की सरकार बच्चियों की रक्षा करने में अक्षम साबित हो रही है,और उनके शवों की अस्मिता तक की रक्षा नहीं कर पा रही है।
विडीओ सौजन्य -कलकत्ता न्यूज़ pic.twitter.com/ZvlhhMsk0P— प्रियंक कानूनगो Priyank Kanoongo (@KanoongoPriyank) April 25, 2023
On Tuesday morning (April 25), local residents found the body of a minor girl lying in the land in the Uzirpur area. They informed the police. Kaliachak police reached the spot after receiving the information. The minor’s body was recovered and sent to Maldah Medical College Hospital for post-mortem.
A resident of Uzirpur village named Ranjan Mandal went to work on his land on Tuesday (April 25) like every other day. He said that the minor’s clothes were in a messy condition. According to eyewitnesses, she had injuries on her face and legs.
Panchayat member of Uzirpur village Chandrasekhar Mandal said, “I got to know the matter from the villagers in the morning. That girl is not from this village. A resident of that village named Prabhatchandra Mandal alleged, “The girl was strangled to death after gang-rape.”
Notably, Four police officers, all in the rank of assistant police sub-inspectors (ASIs), were suspended for allegedly dragging the body of a minor Dalit girl on the road at Kaliaganj in Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal, a senior police officer said on April 25.
On April 20, the victim’s body was found floating in a canal in Kaliaganj. Alleging that she was raped and killed, locals put up road blockades by burning tyres and set several shops on fire.
A video went viral, purportedly showing the police dragging what appeared to be the victim’s body while taking it for a post-mortem.
Watch| #WestBengal: Minor girl belonging to #Rajbangshi community was allegedly raped and murdered by #JavedAkhtar in Kaliaganj area of the Uttar Dinajpur district.
Bengal police has been seen manhandling her corpse. pic.twitter.com/mQ6A4KUnyt
— Organiser Weekly (@eOrganiser) April 22, 2023
The girl, is a resident of Gangua village near saheb ghata in the district’s Paloibari area, and belongs to the Rajbongshi Community. As per the locals, the minor has allegedly been raped by Javed and four other Muslim boys, including a government official.
On April 22, Kanoongo reached Uttar Dinajpur’s Kaliaganj following the rape and murder of a 17-year-old Dalit girl. Kanoongo was accompanied by three other representatives of the NCPCR.
While speaking to news agency ANI, Kanoongo said, “Behavior of the state government has been same for years, they themselves commit mistakes and then try to hide them and because of this they always interrupt the commission’s work.”
“The chief minister always tries to save the incompetent officers here. I consider Mamata Banerjee incompetent when it comes to children’s safety in the state. Due to her negligence incidents happen and children die. And later on, on the basis of the CM’s order, these incidents are covered up”, he further added.
The NCPCR has taken cognizance of this murder as well and the investigation further will reveal the names of the culprit.
