On Thursday (1st February), authorities reported that an 11-year-old girl in Malda in West Bengal had been beheaded by her uncle. According to a police official, her head and torso were discovered in separate locations in the city.
The minor had been missing since 29th January. The accused has been identified as a 27-year-old man who admitted that he killed the girl in retaliation for her father publicly beating and humiliating him multiple times.
Furthermore, the police suspect she might have been raped before the murder. According to the police, the culprit was located by CCTV footage that showed him with the girl shortly before she vanished.
Her father launched a police complaint stating she left the house on 29th January at 6:15 in the evening and didn’t come back. She was seen in the CCTV footage jumping on the culprit’s motorcycle close to her home.
A 10 year old girl child went missing on 29th Jan in Malda. Her family promptly informed the Police and made a public appeal as well.
— Suvendu Adhikari • শুভেন্দু অধিকারী (@SuvenduWB) February 1, 2024
However, Mamata Police was occupied with making arrangements for the CM's sudden visit, as CM was feeling politically insecured.
Unfortunately… https://t.co/VpmeH6XJYx
Superintendent of Police (Malda) Pradeep Kumar Yadav revealed, “The girl, a student of Class V, had gone missing on January 29 (Monday) and her family reported to the police the same day. A missing diary was filed. We examined the CCTV footage from the area and saw the girl being taken away by a person on a motorbike. With the help of residents of the area, we identified the person riding the motorbike. The next day, we detained him. During questioning, we found that the suspect was the girl’s relative. So, we needed strong evidence.”
He added, “Initially, the accused said that he had picked her up near her house on Monday and later dropped her back. He kept misguiding the police and took names that were found to be fake. We found discrepancies in his statement. After prolonged questioning, he confessed to killing the girl on Wednesday evening and told where her body was dumped.” He led the police to recover the head and the torso.
The authorities disclosed that he admitted to killing her in a remote location within an hour of picking her up in his vehicle. He stated that her father had previously humiliated him and even beat him up in public on multiple occasions. He was given a 12-day police custody order after being apprehended and presented before the court. The corpse has been transferred to Malda Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem examination.
Meanwhile, shops in the city have remained closed and rallies condemning the horrible instance have been organised by individuals from all walks of life as a result of the widespread anger. Strict action against the perpetrator was demanded by the demonstrators.
Large-scale protests and silent vigils were held in response to the occurrence by prominent political parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party. On 1st February, people vandalised and set fire to the offender’s home. Additionally, the crowd blocked National Highway 34 and the BJP leaders in the area gheraoed the local police station, citing police inaction. “The police intervened, and the situation has been brought under control. We haven’t received any complaint over the vandalism yet,” proclaimed a police officer.
BJP leader and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari attacked the ruling dispensation and wrote that the girl could have been saved had the police acted swiftly while reacting to a post by party legislator Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury who charged that the police were “too busy in giving security” to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was in the district on 31st January. He asserted, “The girl could have been saved had the police acted swiftly. This is the condition of Public Safety in West Bengal. Police don’t care two hoots about the problems of the common people.”
Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury also mentioned, “The Kesri family provided names of the suspect to police, scanned the CCTV footage. The suspect was detained on 30/1 itself but police had no time to search or find the girl, as because they said they were busy attending to CM’s visit to Malda. Finally, the police couldn’t save or rescue the girl. Her torn tattered brutally abused body was recovered late last night from the farm, a few yards away from the SP (Superintendent of Police) office.
