KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Sunday ordered that a second post-mortem be conducted on the schoolgirl who was allegedly gang-raped and murdered in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district.
Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, hearing a petition filed by the girl’s parents, directed that the second post-mortem be conducted at AIIMS Hospital in Kalyani on Monday in the presence of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) of Baruipur court.
Justice Ghosh also ordered that police register a case under the POCSO Act. If AIIMS Kalyani lacks the necessary infrastructure to conduct the post-mortem, it should be carried out at Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Hospital, also located in Kalyani, the court said. However, the post-mortem must be done by doctors from Kalyani AIIMS, not those from the state-run hospital, it added.
The 10-year-old girl was returning to her Joynagar home after attending her tuition classes on Saturday when the incident took place. The body of the schoolgirl is currently kept at Kantapukur morgue, where the first post-mortem was performed. One person has been arrested in connection with the murder.
Later in the evening, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while inaugurating a puja of Kolkata Police barracks, said, “Whoever does crime strict action will be taken. In Bengal capital punishment has been given in 3 cases. I believe in Kultali , Joynagar in South 24 Pargana, police will take the case to POCSO court and will give punishment.”
After the body of the girl was discovered in marshy land on Saturday, local residents set fire to Mahismari police outpost and pelted stones at policemen. They also vandalised several vehicles parked outside the outpost, forcing the policemen to leave the premises.
Villagers and accused the police of failing to act on their complaint promptly. Police denied the charge, saying soon after the FIR was registered, one suspect was arrested.
