In the midst of an uproar over Dalit girl’s murder and her alleged gang rape in West Bengal’s North Dinajpur district, State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) chairperson Sudeshna Roy said on Sunday that the victim’s family members were “fed up” with the incident and wanted to mourn their daughter in peace.
The SCPCR chairperson on Sunday stated in a press conference in Kolkata “The incident involves a minor girl. We took the details of the incident but decided not to bring it to the public domain.” She added that the child rights panel spoke to with the family and assured them of extending all possible help.
“We spoke to the family and before leaving for Kolkata we assured the family that we will push for the strictest punishment for anyone found guilty,” Roy said, adding, “we told the family that we are with them at this difficult time”.
Roy further added that she even gave the victim’s family her phone number and requested them to call her personally if they needed assistance.
“The family members told us that they were tired of having so many visitors over the last few days,” Roy said, on dalit girl’s murder, “They said that they were also fed up with being questioned repeatedly in connection with the matter.’
Locals had found the body of the minor girl, who was missing for days. Locals also held demonstrations on Friday demanding justice for the girl.
Reacting to the event, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights chief Priyank Kanoongo lambasted West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday, accusing her of shielding the state’s “incompetent (police) officers.”
The NCPCR chief while interacting with media said, “The CM always tries to save the incompetent officers here. I consider CM Mamata Banerjee incompetent when it comes to children’s safety in the state. Due to her negligence incidents happen and children die.” “And later on, on the basis of the CM’s order, these incidents are covered up,” he added.
Kanoongo further claimed that the state government makes mistakes and then attempts to cover them up. This type of activity, he said, invariably disrupts the commission’s work. “Behavior of the state government has been the same for years, they themselves commit mistakes and then try to hide them and because of this, they always interrupt the commission’s work,” he alleged.
Kanoongo also took a dig at district magistrate and said “The DM is incompetent. We are waiting for him but he hasn’t come yet. The family has also alleged political connections of the accused.”
Earlier on Saturday, SP North Dinajpur Sana Akhtar stated that the victim’s post-mortem report revealed that death was caused by a toxic substance. The SP claimed that the victim’s post-mortem report revealed that the death was caused by a poisonous substance, and that they would ask doctors to look for signs of sexual assault, if any.
“The victim’s post-mortem report shared by the doctors reveals that death was caused by a poisonous substance and there were no major injuries on her body. We will again ask doctors to examine if there was any injury that was indicative of a sexual assault,” SP of North Dinajpur claimed.
However, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar slammed the police, accusing them of downplaying the incident and giving it the impression of a suicide. He sought a CBI investigation, claiming that incidents similar to dalit girl’s murder had become routine in Bengal.
