A 14-year-old girl died of burns on Monday after fighting for life for 11 days in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district. The girl allegedly set herself on fire after she was pressured to withdraw a police complaint regarding attempted rape.
The development sparked outrage in social and political circles with the law and order situation in the state being questioned. The family members, including the father of the deceased, have alleged that proper investigation is not being conducted and demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
granted bail
The alleged assault on the girl took place on February 24 at Maynaguri in Jalpiaguri district. A local accused was arrested on the girl’s charge. But after a few weeks he got bail. The girl’s family alleges that on April 13, the accused had threatened the girl to withdraw her complaint to the police. The next day on April 14, the girl set herself on fire. Officials of the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, where the girl was undergoing treatment, said the girl had suffered 60% burns and died at 5 am on Monday.
Senior police officials of Jalpaiguri district said that the four accused have been arrested and sent to judicial custody. The development comes at a time when the CBI, on the directions of the Calcutta High Court, is probing the rape and subsequent death of a Class IX girl at Hanskhali in Nadia district. The High Court has directed two senior women officers to oversee the investigation in six cases of sexual harassment registered in the last few weeks in several districts of the state.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary Mohammad Salim said the girl in Maynaguri would have been alive had the police acted in time. Mr Salim alleged that there was an “ecosystem” in the state that was encouraging criminals to commit crimes against women. State BJP demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter.
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