Bengal girl rape-murder: ‘Killer gave her ice-cream’; she ‘had blood stains…’

The nine-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped and murdered in a West Bengal village, had blood stains all over her body, said her relative on Sunday. Speaking with ANI, the relative said she saw the girl’s body in the hospital. She claimed that the girl had gone missing “while coming back from the tuition” on Friday evening. 
The minor’s body was found in a canal in Kultali village in West Bengal’s South Parganas district on Saturday.
“The body [of the girl] has several injuries on the body…blood stains were all over her body…hands have been broken…she went missing while coming back from the tuition…,” the relative said. The girl’s body recovered by locals from a marshy land in Jaynagar area early Saturday.
The relative alleged that police “neglected” the matter when the father of the girl had gone police station. “Her father tried to find her everywhere, but when he was not able to find her, he went to the Police station, but the Police refused to listen to him and asked him to go to the Jaynagar Police station…Police neglected the matter…,” she added.
Baruipur SP Palash Chandra Dhali said the accused detained by police confessed to killing the girl.
Sources told India Today that the accused was trying to befriend the girl before the days leading to the crime. The man allegedly “gave ice cream to the girl for the past two days and tried to befriend her,” sources said. They added that on Friday evening, the accused gave the victim a lift on his cycle and took her to an unknown location.
The report added police identified the man who had given her a ride on his bicycle after talking to her classmates.
The police said the action was taken immediately after the complaint was received and an accused was arrested in connection with the alleged rape and murder of the girl.
“After lodging of FIR at 9 pm on Friday, the police swung into action and arrested an accused this morning after an initial probe. Investigation is on and we are with the family of the deceased,” the official was quoted by PTI as saying.
Violence ensued in the Bengal village on Saturday after the girl’s body was recovered from the canal. A mob torched the Mahismari police outpost and pelted the policemen with stones. “They also vandalised several vehicles parked outside the outpost and the policemen were forced to leave the premises,” a senior officer said.
A huge police force was sent to the area and tear gas shells were fired to quell the mob which tried to confine the SDPO and other senior personnel at the spot.
Expressing shock over the incident, Union minister Sukanta Majumdar said, “A class 4 girl was abducted, raped and murdered while returning from tuition. Women are not safe in West Bengal. They are being killed even during Devi Paksha [the 15-day period heralding the advent of Goddess Durga since Mahalaya].”
(With inputs from agencies)