In a chilling incident that unfolded in the Hooghly district of West Bengal, a 4-year-old Banajara girl was reportedly kidnapped and raped in Hooghly district, near Kolkata. The incident occurred when the girl from the Banajara community was sleeping next to her grandmother on a cot enclosed by a mosquito net.
The victim was abducted late on Friday night and later subjected to horrific sexual abuse. According to a report by NDTV, quoting a senior official from Hooghly rural police station, the victim was kidnapped when she was sleeping with her grandmother at a railway shelter in Tarakeshwar. She was found in critical condition the day after, in afternoon.
West Bengal Minor Rape Case: Assailants Kidnaps Girl By Cutting Net
The child was kidnapped by cutting the mosquito net, as per the family. The grandmother did not know that the girl was not there until 4 am.
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"She was sleeping with me. Around 4 am. "someone took her away. They cut the mosquito net and took her away. She was found naked," the grandmother said, adding, "We live on the streets because they have demolished our houses. Where do we go? We don't have any homes.
Child Found Naked, In Pool Of Blood
The child was found naked and in a pool of blood on Saturday afternoon near the Tarakeswar railway high drain. The police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The investigation is currently underway to apprehend the accused.
Incident Ignites Political Row In West Bengal
The incident swifly charged up the political landscape in the state, igniting row over inefficiency of the Mamata government in stopping crime against women. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has hit out at the State government, acusing police inaction and delay in filing complaint by police.
Leader of Opposition in the Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, levelled accusations against the mamata government, claiming that the family faced initial hurdles in getting an FIR registered.
In an X post, Adhikari wrote,"This is the True Face of Mamata Banerjee’s free-for-all regime. A child’s life is shattered, yet the Police are shielding the State’s Fake Law & Order Image, by suppressing the truth."