Alleged sexual assault and poisoning which led to the death of teenage girl on Sunday has triggered violence in parts of north Bengal on Monday. According to a source, the body of a Muslim Trinamool leader allegedly involved in the death of the teen was recovered from near the site in Chopra.
Meanwhile, an autopsy report claimed that the 17-year-old girl who is the sister of a local BJP leader died due to consumption of poison. The BJP, however, termed the autopsy report a “cover-up”. It called upon the government to order a fresh impartial probe into the incident.
A delegation of the BJP Bengal leadership, which included Union Minister Debasree Chaudhuri, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi and apprised him about the situation. “We met Amit Shah Ji and briefed him about the situation in Chopra,” said Chaudhuri.
However, there has been no let up in the protests against the girl’s death. The BJP Mahila Morcha organised a protest rally in Kolkata during the day over the death of the teenage girl on Sunday, but it was stopped by the police at the outset. In many places, CPI(M) cadres also joined BJP in the protests.
Alleging rape and murder of the girl, a mob had gone on a rampage in North Dinajpur district on Sunday, setting fire to several police vehicles and government buses on the National Highway 31 in the Chopra area near Siliguri. The girl, who had gone out of her house at Sonapur village on Sunday morning to relieve herself, was found dead a few hours later. The villagers alleged that she was raped before being murdered.
Police said they have so far arrested 16 BJP workers for their alleged involvement in the Sunday violence. The incident has caused the latest face-off between the TMC and the BJP, with the party alleging that the girl was murdered as she was the sister of a BJP activist. BJP state vice-president Raju Banerjee said, “Goons of TMC murdered the girl as she is the sister of a BJP activist. The police are trying to pass off the rape and murder as a suicide.” A BJP delegation which wanted to visit Chopra was not allowed. BJP National Secretary Rahul Sinha termed the autopsy report a “cover-up” exercise to “protect” the culprits.
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