Hnashkhali Gang Rape: One More Accused Arrested; Mahua, Suvendu & Adhir Met Girl’s Parents

Ananya Chakraborty, Chairman of West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights walks through an agricultural land during her visit to Nadia's Hanshkhali on Tuesday where he met parents of the victim girl.

Hanshkhali, April 12: Police in its attempt to unfold the mystery behind the alleged gang rape and death of a minor girl in Nadia’s Hanshkhali, have arrested a close friend of the prime accused on Tuesday morning.

Prabhakar Poddar, 20,  an accomplice of Sohail Gayali, alias Brojo, was arrested on the basis of the statement that he made during the police interrogation.

He was charged with rape, produced before the ACJM court in Ranaghat which ordered 13 days of police custody for him.

On Monday police produced six more persons before the magistrate as witnesses to record their statements under section 164 of the CrPC. With these six persons, police so far recorded witness accounts of the total of 11 persons anticipating that these could be key evidence for them during the prosecution in absence of any ‘material pieces of evidence.

“We are trying best to reconstruct the crime based on the witness account due to lack of physical and circumstantial pieces of evidence”, Additional SP of Ranaghat police district Rupantar Sengupta said.

Trinamul MP Mahua Moitra, who visited Hanshkhali on Tuesday and met the victim’s parents also raised concern about the absence of evidence.

“Police carrying out fast investigation despite drawbacks in evidence. The guilts will not be spared. We have a zero-tolerance policy”, said the Krishnagar MP adding that police have been instructed to find out the persons who allegedly intimated the victim’s parents discouraging them to Lodge police complaint.

“The prime accused has already been arrested. One of his friends was also arrested. Preliminary we came to know that apart from the prime accused at least two other friends were involved in the crime. They are criminals and their political identity will not matter. The state government will not tolerate such crime”, she added.

In an apparent initiative to control damage over Chief Minister’s remark raising suspicion about the alleged rape claiming that girl had an ‘affair’ and ‘, pregnant’, the Trinamul MP said, “Even sex with a minor girl on her consent is rape. That is why police charged the accused under POCSO Act.

Moitra acknowledged that there are several unregistered cremations across the district, particularly in the rural area where no death certificate is used for cremation. “We always discourage such arrangements. But the situation has yet to change. In Hsnskhali same thing happened for dubious motive where near a dozen persons were present of which anyone should have informed police about the suspected death”, she told reporters.

Moitra along with the Ananya Chakraborty, chairman of the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights visited the burning where the body of the victim girl was allegedly cremated.

Chakraborty also talked to the father of the victim when he raised an objection against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s claim that the deceased girl was ‘pregnant’. “It is an insensitive comment without knowing the fact. My daughter was not pregnant”, the victim’s father said.

On Tuesday evening a 12-member legislative team of BJP led by Suvendu Shikari visited the victim’s family.

Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also met the girl’s parents and paid Rupees fifty thousand as financial help while offering legal support.

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