Bengal girl rape-murder: Calcutta HC orders Pocso charges, autopsy at AIIMS

The Calcutta high court on Sunday ordered the state police to file charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Pocso) in the alleged rape and murder of a nine-year-old school girl in South 24 Parganas district and said the post mortem should be conducted on Monday at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)- Kalyani in Nadia district, lawyers who attended the special hearing said.
Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, who heard a petition by the girl’s family amid wide protests at Kultali in Joynagar area of the South 24 Parganas, inquired why the police did not file charges under Pocso when the inquest report mentioned multiple injuries on the victim’s body, senior lawyer Bilwadal Bhattacharya, who appeared for the Centre, said. The girl’s body was recovered from a swamp on Friday night, hours after she went missing,
The suspect, 18-year-old Mostakin Sardar, was arrested at 3am on Saturday and remanded in police custody. “We can add charges under Pocso once we get the post mortem report,” Palash Chandra Dhali, the Baruipur police superintendent, told the media after the arrest.
The same argument was put up for the state on Sunday by advocate general Kishore Dutta and public prosecutor Debasish Roy. Turning the argument down, Justice Ghosh ordered the Pocso court to be heard by the additional district judge, Baruipur.
“Pointing at the inquest report signed by an executive magistrate, the judge pulled up the government asking why only a murder case was started and sections under Pocso not added in the first information report (FIR),” Bhattacharya told the media after the hearing.
The Centre was made a party in the hearing since the victim’s family did not want the post mortem to be done at a state hospital and demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which the high court ordered in the August 9 rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital amid mass protests.
Since residents of Kultali and leaders of the CPI(M) and Bharatiya Janata Party launched massive agitations on Saturday and stopped the police from conducting the post mortem at a local hospital, citing the RG Kar Hospital case, the government moved the high court on Sunday seeking its direction. The body was kept at the Katapukur police morgue in Kolkata.
“The court said the post mortem must start at 11.45am on Monday at AIIMS Kalyani in the presence of a judicial magistrate. When the hospital authorities pointed out that it is a new institution and the infrastructure may not be adequate for a case of his nature the court said the doctors can use the set up at Kalyani’s state-run Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Hospital. The court wants a compliance report on Tuesday,” said Bhattacharya.
The victim’s family expressed satisfaction after the hearing.
“Police did not follow the right procedures. We are satisfied with the court’s observations,” the victim’s father said.
At the South 24 Parganas, opposition parties and local people carried out day-long agitations demanding justice for the school girl who was allegedly raped and murdered while returning from a private tutorial class. BJP state general secretary Agnimitra Paul led a dharna outside the Kultali police station for hours on Sunday.
“We have named the victim Bijaya and will not rest till she gets justice,” Paul said.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also in charge of the home department, advocated capital punishment for the guilty, a demand she made in the RG Kar Hospital case as well.
“Crime has no religion, race or creed. A crime is a crime. I want the police to register a Pocso case and file chargesheet in three months so that the guilty is hanged,” Banerjee said while inaugurating the Durga puja at the Alipore Bodyguard Lines of the Kolkata Police.
The chief minister pulled up critics of the law enforcers without naming any political party or individual.
“If you do a good job, nobody will remember it but thousands will badmouth you for making an inadvertent mistake. To err is human. People shout when an incident happens in Bengal but stay quiet when things go wrong in other states. Remember, a thousand dogs bark when a king goes to the market. Don’t pay heed. Our government stands by our police force,” Banerjee said, quoting an old Hindi proverb.
Joynagar witnessed pitched battles on Saturday after the incident.
The villagers attacked policemen, injuring at least a dozen, and ransacked the police outpost at Mahishmari before setting it on fire. They alleged that police did not act fast and even refused to accept a missing person report. The SP refuted the charges.
“Action will be taken against the suspect. And, those who attacked policemen will not be spared either,” Dhali said on Saturday.