Court convicts 9 in Hanskhali teen gangrape-death case

PTI, RANAGHAT, DEC 22: A court in West Bengal on Monday convicted nine people in connection with the gangrape of a teenager, who later died of her injuries in 2022 at Hanskhali in Nadia district. 

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was entrusted with the probe in the case by the Calcutta High Court. The Ranaghat additional district judge (ADJ) court,pronouncing the nine guilty, said the quantum of sentence would be pronounced on Tuesday. 

The 14-year-old girl was gangraped on April 4, 2022 during the birthday party of the son of a ruling party panchayat leader. The girl fell ill and died the next day. Her body was cremated in haste, allegedly under pressure from the accused. 

Brajagopal Goali, son of the panchayat leader, along with Prabhakar Poddar and Ranjit Mallick, were accused of gangrape of a woman aged below 16 years under Section 376 DA of IPC and also under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

KalimNews Ed: According to the court's verdict, Sohail Goali, Prabhakar Poddar and Ranjit Mallick were found guilty under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 34 (joint offence), 201 (destruction of evidence), 506 (intimidation), 304(2) and 376DA of the Indian Penal Code. Besides, they have also been convicted under Section 6 of the POCSO Act. 

Allegations of conspiracy and intimidation against Surjit Roy and Akash Barai have been proved. Samarendra Goali, Deepta Goali and Piyush Kanti Bhakta were found guilty of tampering with evidence and conspiracy. Anshuman Bagchi was also found guilty on charges of conspiracy and tampering with evidence.