Chief Minister of Bengal, Mamata Banerjee (left) and the minor rape and murder victim (right)
A Minor girl was raped and murdered in the Kaliagunj area of West Bengal’s North Dinajpur district on April 20. The girl was a minor whereas the culprit boy identified as Javed Akhtar is a major.
The Chief Minister of Bengal Mamata Banerjee during a press conference organised on April 26 made an absurd remark by saying the dead minor girl was having a ‘Love Affair’ with the accused. This shows how desperate she is to hide the identity of the accused who groomed the minor girl into this alleged relationship.
The source CM has cited for making the remarks are the WhatsApp chats between the minor and the accused boy.
“It’s an unfortunate incident. I have seen some WhatsApp messages also. I saw it was a love affair. The police are investigating it,” Banerjee said.
Notably, following the death of the minor girl, there were massive protests in the city. The protestors demanded the immediate arrest of the accused which included, Javed and four other Muslim boys.
“We will stand by the victim’s family. But the way hooliganism happened yesterday and the way the police were attacked and the property was damaged, I will ask the police to investigate these incidents as well and take action,” said Mamata.
The dead body of the minor girl was almost dragged by the police officers from the murder spot. About that she said, “Even when the body was taken, stones were thrown. I do not support the way the body was taken. But what else could they do?” she asked.
Instead of providing the postmortem reports to the NCPCR that took cognizance of the matter and even visited the victim’s family, Mamata accused BJP of the said violence that followed the protests.
“The BJP brought people from Bihar and set the police station on fire, instigating violence. It was a plan. The BJP is doing hooliganism since Delhi (Centre) is behind them,” she alleged.
Notably, taking note of the rape and murder the NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo told the media, “We have received the info about the alleged rape and murder of a girl in Kaliyaganj in North Dinajpur and we are going to investigate it. It is very saddening that we informed about this incident to the chief secretary of the state govt and the collector of North Dinajpur in the afternoon, but we have not received any reply yet. We are trying for justice for the girl”.
While speaking to news agency ANI, Kanoongo said, “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 postmortem report of the minor girl was not given to the NCPCR, “Her postmortem report was not given to NCPCR. Yesterday her post-mortem report was circulating on social media. It was a secret document. We’ve written to DGP to take action against Uttar Dinajpur SP & the doctor who conducted the postmortem”.
NCPCR wrote to DGP West Bengal, Manoj Malaviya, requesting an inquiry into the reports that the postmortem report of the victim has been made public & is viral on various social media platforms, thereby disclosing the identity of the POCSO victim as well as her parents.
The girl, was a resident of Gangua village near saheb ghata in the district’s Paloibari area and belonged to the Rajbongshi Community.
Eleven people were detained for their alleged involvement in the violence at Kaliaganj in Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district over the death of the girl.
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.
A case was filed under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act based on a complaint filed by the girl’s mother. Two people were arrested based on the complaint.
This is not the first time that Mamata Banerjee did this, in April 2022 a 14-year-old girl was gang-raped and murdered in Hanskhali of Bengal’s Nadia district. A 21-year-old boy was arrested as the culprit.
Mamata at an event said, “Would you call it rape or was she pregnant or would you call it a love affair…was she ill or was she hit by someone…I have asked police, ‘What happened?’ What happened was bad. Arrest has been made. I have heard the girl had had a love affair,”
“The girl died on the 5th. The complaint was made on the 10th. If anyone had a complaint then why not lodge it on the 10th?” she alleged.
“The girl had love affairs. Her family knew this. Neighbours also knew this. If boys and girls have relationships, I cannot stop them. This is not Uttar Pradesh that I’ll start a ‘love jihad’ programme,” said Mamata.
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