Slain couple’s daughter stable at NBMCH...Bishop lauds police department, Press, for prompt action on the case

SNS, Siliguri, 23 June 2014: The condition of Rinjee Bhutia, who was injured when a man murdered her parents in Git Dabling in the Kalimpong sub-division on 19 June, is stable.

Twelve-year-old Rinjee is undergoing treatment in a special ward of the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) in Siliguri for severe cuts on her face and hands.

While Rinjee survived the gruesome attack on them that saw her Catholic parents, Dominic Bhutia and Christina Bhutia, killed, her younger sister aged five escaped unhurt.

“Her right eye which was badly injured could not be saved. There is a fracture on her left forearm. But her condition is stable. She is eating food properly,” said NBMCH medical superintendent Dr Amarendra Nath Sarkar.

Bishop Stephen Lepcha of Darjeeling, meanwhile, said doctors operated on Rinjee, while they are preparing to perform more surgery on her to fix her forearm.

Though concerned about Rinjee’s health, Bishop Lepcha, meanwhile said he would remain ever grateful to the police department and the Press for acting promptly and highlighting the needs of the local people of Git Dabling.

He also expressed regret at having “wrongly judged” the police department’s intentions. Bishop Lepcha had yesterday expressed concern over a statement made by a top cop and published in a vernacular daily that said a police outpost was not possible at Git Dabling.

“I saw that the respected SP of Darjeeling, Akhilesh Chaturvedi, and DIG CS Lepcha and the entire police team acted promptly to the situation at hand, despite their busy schedule. I am very much grateful to their great service. I express my heartfelt gratitude to Mr Chaturvedi, Mrs Lepcha and other police officers and personnel,” he said, adding, “I sincerely apologize for my harsh judgment on Mrs Lepcha’s comments (on the vernacular daily) and thus hindering the police department’s work.”

Local people in Git Dabling, which does not have a police outpost, have said the crime rate and the number of drug users have gone up drastically in the gram panchayat. They have demanded a police station or an outpost in the area.

North Bengal Inspector General of Police Jawed Shamim has told The Statesman that his department will assess the law and order situation in the area and conduct a feasibility study before it takes a call on setting up a police outpost there.