KOLKATA: An 11-year-old girl who was allegedly raped and murdered in West Bengal’s Baruipur was thrown into a pond while still alive, a preliminary post-mortem report has revealed, days after her body was found stuffed in a sack in South 24 Parganas. The girl went missing on Saturday after leaving home to buy a birthday gift for a friend. Her body was recovered from a pond in the Surjyapur Haat area, around 25 km from Kolkata, on Sunday, triggering violent protests and the lynching of a suspect by an angry mob. According to a senior police officer citing the post-mortem report, the preliminary findings showed injury marks in the girl’s private parts, along with scratch and bite marks on different parts of her body. Her head had either been struck with a heavy object or banged against a hard surface, the officer said. The report also found water in her lungs and stomach, indicating she was alive when she was thrown into the pond. Police sources said excessive bleeding from the head injury, combined with drowning, caused her death. “The investigation is at a crucial stage. We are examining all evidence. The preliminary post-mortem findings are being corroborated with other material collected during the probe,” a senior police officer said. Police said CCTV footage from the area purportedly showed the girl being taken away by four persons, and that the footage was being analysed to establish their identities and role in the crime. The arrest The accused, identified as Anand Sardar, was picked up by Baruipur district police from the town’s market area on Monday afternoon following a search operation, a senior police officer said. He was traced through his mobile phone tower location and will be produced before a local court and taken into police custody for further interrogation. “Sardar, who is the prime accused in the case, has been arrested. With his arrest, the total number of persons arrested in connection with the case has gone up to three,” the officer told PTI. One person was arrested on Sunday night and another on Monday morning, while three others have been detained for questioning. A six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by an additional SP, has been formed to probe the case. What happened The girl had left home around 4 pm on Saturday to buy a birthday gift for a friend and did not return. Her family lodged a missing complaint, and her body was found stuffed in a sack in the Surjyapur Haat area on Sunday. Her family has alleged she was abducted, gang-raped and strangled to death by four to five local men, and named four residents in their FIR. Mob lynching Hours after the body was recovered, enraged locals blocked the Baruipur-Joynagar Road and the Sealdah-Namkhana railway line, burning tyres and logs and damaging police vehicles, briefly halting train services. Police and central forces who tried to intervene were driven back with brickbats, injuring several officers. Amid the chaos, protesters identified suspect Indrajit Tanti and allegedly beat him despite his pleas of innocence; he later succumbed to his injuries. A second suspect, Prabash Mondal, was rescued from the mob and arrested. Separate FIRs have been filed over the lynching and over the assault on police personnel and vandalism of vehicles. Locals have also alleged that another suspect apprehended by the crowd was let off by police after the intervention of a local political functionary — a charge police have not responded to. Prohibitory orders Authorities imposed Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in Baruipur, Narendrapur and Sonarpur to maintain law and order. “The situation is under control, but prohibitory orders have been imposed as a preventive measure… Adequate police deployment has been made in the affected areas,” a senior officer said, appealing to the public not to heed rumours. Political flashpoint Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari spoke to the victim’s father by phone, assured strict action against the culprits, and is scheduled to meet the family in Kolkata on July 7. IGP (Presidency Range) Kankar Prasad Barui addressed protesters with a megaphone, promising arrests, after which blockades were lifted. Since Sunday night, heavy deployment of state and central forces has continued outside TMC leader Mamata Banerjee‘s Kalighat residence. TMC leaders including Kunal Ghosh, Derek O’Brien and Mahua Moitra have alleged the deployment is meant to stop Banerjee from travelling to Baruipur to meet the bereaved family, calling it a “forcible confinement.” TMC MP Dola Sen called the situation a “super emergency,” while Pratima Mondal termed it a “murder of democracy.” A three-member TMC delegation — Biman Banerjee, Dola Sen and Pratima Mondal — left for Baruipur amid the standoff. Banerjee has since spoken to the victim’s father by phone. The BJP rejected the “house arrest” charge, calling the deployment routine security for a Z-plus protectee. State minister Dilip Ghosh dismissed the claim, saying Banerjee “is scared of eggs being hurled at her,” and asserted police have already taken stern action against the accused. TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee accused the BJP of failing to protect women in Bengal and alleged political protection for the accused. “When justice becomes selective, and outrage becomes political, it is not only the victim who suffers; it is society that pays the price,” he said.(With agency inputs)
