On allegations of negligence from police officers on rape and murder of a 9-year-old school girl, a mob set a police outpost and vehicles on fire at Mahishmari Joynagar in South 24-Parganas, this morning.
The incident caused widespread commotion in the areas as thousands of villagers surrounded the police outpost for several hours. Chaos prevailed in Joynagar for prolonged hours. Angry people put up roadblock on Dakshin Barsat Road since morning, which led to massive traffic jam for hours. A clash broke out between police and mob, who pelted stones at police. Few hundred village women chased policemen with sticks and brooms. Even Ganesh Chandra Mandal, MLA Kultali, was chased by villagers as Mr Mandal allegedly terrorised villagers by saying that several police cases will be filed against them. Angry locals have been protesting, accusing the police of inaction since last night. The police station has been surrounded and reportedly vandalized and documents were burnt. In Mahishmari, the local police camp was also set on fire. Later, firefighters arrived to extinguish the flames. Tension ran high in the area and the Rapid Action Force (RAF) was deployed to control the situation. The police responded with baton charges and tear gas to control the situation.
On Friday night, the body of the child was recovered from a pond in the Mahishmari area. The family reported that the girl, a Class IV student, had gone to her coaching class in the afternoon but did not return. When they couldn’t find her, the family went to the Mahishmari police outpost to file a complaint. However, they alleged that the police initially did not take their concerns seriously and asked them to file the complaint at Joynagar police station. “Instead of taking our complaints a police officer threatened us with slapping false cases on us if we do not leave the police outpost,” said a family member of the victim.
The family believes that if the police had acted promptly, their child might have been saved. The child’s body was found in a pond less than a kilometer from her home. The CCTV footage led to the arrest of a young man, and the family has demanded strict punishment for the perpetrator while expressing anger over the police’s role.
Additional superintendent of police Rupantar Goswami said, “We have arrested the accused, and so far, only one person has been arrested. We will investigate if anyone else is involved. Our priority is to restore normalcy in the area.” Superintendent of police Palash Chandra Dhali, present at the scene, said, “The situation is currently under control. Our entire police team is here, and we are investigating the case thoroughly. We received the information at around 9 pm and began investigating immediately. We gathered details on where the child went missing and who saw her last. The accused was identified promptly, and a case was filed at Joynagar police station by 12.30 am. The accused was arrested within three to four hours and confessed to the crime. Despite the police taking all necessary steps, we are looking into why there is still anger in the community.”
The police are also investigating whether the child was sexually assaulted before being killed and is waiting for the autopsy report. Authorities are working to identify those responsible for setting fire to the police camp, and legal action will be taken against them.