KOLKATA: "He has received the punishment for what he did. I will not go to claim his body." These words came from none other than Sandhya Mondal, mother of Prabhas Mondal, who was shot dead by police during an encounter on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday in Baruipur, South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
Prabhas was one of the three accused in the gang rape and murder of a 11-year-old girl on Sunday in Baruipur, located barely 35 km from Kolkata.
“Police came to my house and asked me, ‘Is your son’s name Prabhas Mondal?’ I told them, ‘Yes.’ They then said, ‘Your son is dead. Do you want to see him?’” she told the media.
“Police wanted my son’s identity card. But I told them that I would not go to collect his body. I do not want to see him. No one from the family will go to take his body. Police can do whatever they want,” the deceased’s mother said.
“He never obeyed his mother. He was a drug addict,” she added.
The Mondal family was left embarrassed after Prabhas’s name emerged in connection with the rape and murder of the minor girl.
Extrajudicial killing
In a development unprecedented in the state, West Bengal witnessed the alleged encounter killing, a practice previously seen in BJP-ruled states such as Assam and Uttar Pradesh.
The alleged encounter appeared to draw attention to Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s pre-assembly election promise of taking strict action against those accused of rape, including eliminating them through police encounters.
Adhikari had met the victim’s family members at Baruipur police station on Tuesday afternoon. He also held discussions with senior police officials, including Director General of Police (DGP) Sidhnath Gupta, to take stock of the progress of the investigation.
Mob lynching
It may be recalled that the minor girl's body was recovered from inside a sack in the Suryapur Haat area, sparking protests by local residents who blocked the Baruipur–Joynagar Road, set tyres on fire, and damaged several police vehicles while demanding the immediate arrest of those responsible.
Hours after the recovery of the body, a man identified as Indrajit Mondal was lynched by an angry mob on suspicion of being involved in the girl’s murder.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Tuesday that the man lynched by an angry mob was innocent.