Siliguri: Youth held within hours of murder of minor girl

Accused has been remanded to 10 days of police custody

Sanchita Aich Bag  |  MP  |  22 Aug 2023  |  Siliguri : Within a few hours of the gruesome murder of a minor schoolgirl, Siliguri Metropolitan Police arrested a youth, identified as Mohammad Abbas (22 years), from the Lenin Colony area near Matigara on Monday night. 

Abbas, a resident of Lenin Colony, was produced at the Siliguri Court amid huge protests on Tuesday morning. He has been remanded to 10 days of police custody. The body of a minor girl with blood all over was recovered from a dilapidated house near the Motajyot area in Matigara near Khaprail More, Siliguri on Monday evening. 

Her head was smashed and the body bore multiple injury marks. The minor (16 years) was in a school uniform when the body was found. It is learned that she was studying in class eleven in a Nepali medium school. 

Family members of the victim, residents of the area and members of social organisations staged a protest at the Siliguri Court demanding the accused be hanged to death. The infuriated protesters even tried to assault Abbas when he was taken for production. They even pelted stones and tried to stop the police vehicle when Abbas was being taken on police remand from the court. 

Later, they staged a sit-in protest in front of the main gate of the court. DCP Abhishek Gupta said: “We arrested the accused from his home. We got the clue by questioning residents of the area and it was corroborated by the CCTV footage. 

Prima facie the accused tried to sexually assault the minor and when she tried to stop him, he smashed the victim’s head with a brick. We have found the brick which is the murder weapon. The accused has confessed to the crime. It is being investigated whether the accused had prior acquaintance with the girl.” 

According to police sources, on Monday, the girl had gone to school. After school was over, she was returning home when the accused stopped her and volunteered to drop her home on his bicycle. The girl went with him. 

The accused then took her to the abandoned area and tried to sexually assault her. A police source said that during the probe, the accused stated that he was acquainted with the girl. When they had a scuffle, he hit the minor with a brick. However, he didn’t know that she had died. 

Meanwhile, it was learnt that people, including political party leaders, protested in front of Matigara Police Station demanding the accused be hanged to death. 

Courtesy & Source- Millennium Post

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/siliguri-youth-held-within-hours-of-murder-of-minor-girl-530135