Amid the mystery surrounding the death of a Class XII girl in Krishnanagar that remained unresolved even after three days since her nearly charred body was recovered in the town, a team of doctors on Friday met with the grieving family, condemning the state government for failing to curb rising atrocities against women across Bengal.
The group, which included prominent doctors involved in the recent protests at RG Kar in Calcutta, accused the state government of turning Bengal into "hell" because of allegedly unchecked violence against women.
“The state has become a hell for women, with violence continuing unabated,” said Pabitra Kumar Goswami, a doctor and member of the team, while demanding a CBI probe into the girl’s death.
Goswami added: “Since the RG Kar incident, people have taken to the streets in anger, but shockingly, such incidents of violence have not ceased. In many cases, the perpetrators are shielded by the ruling party.”
Expressing dismay further, he said: "We had hoped for safety and security under a woman chief minister, but women in Bengal continue to face torture and humiliation. The lack of evidence presented by the police has allowed oppressors to escape justice in most of the cases. By protecting the perpetrators, the ruling party has turned this state into a living hell."
The girl, who had gone missing on Tuesday night after leaving home to meet her fiancé, was found dead the next morning near an abandoned Durga Puja pandal in Mission Para, Krishnanagar. Her body was severely burnt, with injuries to her face, chest, and abdomen. While a cryptic Facebook post believed to be hers hinted at suicide, her family maintains she was gang raped and murdered, and her body set on fire to destroy evidence. Police arrested the girl's boyfriend Rshul Bose, 24, a hotel employee and took him under custody for interrogation.
A post-mortem examination at JNM Hospital conducted on Thursday has so far ruled out any signs of sexual assault, which also confirmed that the burn injuries were "ante mortem", sustained before death. However, the formal report is still awaited as additional test reports are still pending at the laboratory.
On Friday, a forensic team, accompanied by CID officials, visited the crime scene to gather further evidence. Krishnanagar SP Amaranth K said, “We are awaiting the post-mortem and forensic reports, which we expect by Sunday. These will help us resolve the case conclusively. Early evidence suggests that the girl was burned at the location where her body was found."
The police reconstructed the activities of the girl's fiance on October 15. Investigators are analyzing CCTV footage and scanning his call records, according to the SP.