Locals, police fight pitched battle as 10-year-old girl found dead in West Bengal

Villagers said the minor had been missing since Friday evening and the police did not act on their complaint promptly.
Irate villagers set on fire a local police camp after an incident of alleged rape and murder of a young village girl in Kultali area of South 24 Parganas district.
Irate villagers set on fire a local police camp after an incident of alleged rape and murder of a young village girl in Kultali area of South 24 Parganas district.Photo | PTI
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KOLKATA: The body of a 10-year-old girl, allegedly raped and murdered, was found in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district on Saturday, prompting local residents to set fire to a police outpost, police said.

Villagers said the minor had been missing since Friday evening and the police did not act on their complaint promptly.

As the body of the girl was recovered by locals from a marshy land, a mob torched the Mahismari police outpost, a police officer said.

A large police force was sent to the area, and tear gas shells were fired to disperse the mob, the officer said.

“The family members of the girl lodged an FIR at the Mahismari utpost but the police did not act on the complaint immediately,” said Ganesh Dolui, a local.

Police responded similarly following the discovery of a woman doctor’s body at RG Kar Hospital in August, another villager said.

The police said they acted immediately upon receiving the complaint. “After lodging an FIR at 9 pm on Friday, police arrested an accused on Saturday morning,” a police officer said. When Kultali TMC MLA Ganesh Mondal attempted to calm the villagers, he was chased away. Mondal later said, “Our party and I are with the aggrieved villagers and the parents of the child.”

State BJP chief Sukanta said, “The women of Bengal are not safe. They are being killed even during Devi Paksha.”

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