Calcutta High Court on Tuesday asked the Bengal government to submit status reports, along with case dairies, by April 22 on five incidents of rape and gangrape that had allegedly taken place recently.
The division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj also directed the government to provide “highest level of security” to the rape and gangrape victims and their kin.
The court issued the order on a plea by advocate Sushmita Saha Dutta, who referred to the recent rapes and gangrapes at Pingla in West Midnapore, Namkhana and Netra in South 24-Parganas, Santiniketan in Birbhum and Maynaguri in Jalpaiguri district.
“The court should take strong steps against the culprits with immediate effect and ask the CBI to probe the incidents. If needed, the court should constitute a high-power committee to stop atrocities on minor girls,” the advocate said.
The Chief Justice assured the lawyer that her prayer would be sympathetically considered and issued the order.
23 Covid cases
Bengal on Tuesday reported 23 new Covid-19 infections, 41 recoveries and no death. At present, there are 272 active cases in the state: 246 in home isolation and 26 in hospitals, according to the state bulletin. The recovery rate on Tuesday was 98.94 per cent, while the mortality rate was 1.05 per cent.
