Probe an eyewash: Girl mom - Rape and murder charge

Forensic experts on Friday inspect the spot where the girl was found dead. Picture by Biplab Basak

TT, Sept. 5: The mother of the 14-year-old girl whose body had been found along railway tracks in Jalpaiguri district on Monday alleged today that the minor had been raped and murdered, and described the visit of a forensic team to the spot five days after the incident as an “eyewash”.

As the mother raised questions about the progress of the probe, lower-level officers associated with the investigation said off the record that the girl had been probably raped and murdered.

“My daughter had been brutally tortured, raped and murdered and then, her body was thrown on the railway tracks to make her death look like an accident. We are sceptical about the results of the ongoing police investigation as only three of the 13 accused have been arrested so far. A forensic team reached the spot today and not immediately after her body had been recovered. All these steps are nothing but eyewash,” said the girl’s mother.

A three-member forensic team from North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, headed by Dibakar Chhetri, visited the spot where the girl’s body had been found.

“We want exemplary punishment of all the accused, who had convened the kangaroo court and insulted and assaulted my husband and murdered my daughter,” the mother said.

On Sunday, the girl’s father, a farmer, was called to the kangaroo court convened by Chandrakanta Roy, a former Trinamul Congress municipal councillor. The farmer was asked to pay Rs 8,000 as rent to his neighbour from whom he had hired a power tiller. The farmer expressed his inability to pay the amount immediately and was allegedly thrashed. His daughter who was with him protested and soon, she went missing.

The next day, her mutilated body was found without clothes along the tracks in Jalpaiguri district. The same evening, the farmer filed a police complaint against 13 people, including Chandrakanta and the neighbour, accusing them of murdering his daughter. Both of them, along with some Trinamul workers, soon went into hiding.

A probe was started by Jalpaiguri district police and Government Railway Police.

While senior Jalpaiguri district police officers said no proof of rape had been mentioned in post-mortem reports, their subordinates said they suspect that it was a case of rape and murder.

“Her body didn’t have clothes. If it had been a suicide, there was no reason for her to jump in front of a train without wearing clothes. Moreover, there were nail marks and minor bruises on the body, which hint at physical torture,” said a junior district police officer.

A police officer with the GRP echoed him. “It seems the girl was taken away by some men from the kangaroo court on the pretext of discussing the dispute with her. We are yet to find out where they had kept her and other details. There is no reason for her to commit suicide by walking out of the kangaroo court,” the officer said.

So far, the police have arrested Tahidar Rehman and Hamidar Ali and a minor schoolboy. Sources said the visit of the team from NBMCH raised doubts though there was Regional Forensic Science Laboratory in Jalpaiguri under the state government.

Kunal Agarwal, the superintendent of police of Jalpaiguri, said they had not sent any forensic team to the spot.

“It is the GRP who have sent the team from NBMCH. The GRP are investigating the case and we are assisting them in an appropriate manner. Three persons were arrested and they have been handed over to the GRP,” he said.

Debasish Sarkar, the superintendent of railway police (Siliguri), could not be contacted.

The CPM and the BJP have been alleging that Trinamul leaders were behind the girl’s death.

Sourav Chakraborty, the Jalpaiguri district Trinamul president who had termed the incident a “case of suicide” even before post-mortem report came out, continued to defend his party workers.

“None of our leaders or workers was involved in the incident. We want a proper investigation to bring out the truth. People are trying to malign our party. But baseless allegations will only trigger the flow of more people to the Trinamul fold,” Chakraborty said today.