A division bench of Calcutta High Court headed by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava on Thursday ordered the state to provide security to witnesses in the Hanskhali rape-death case under the Witness Protection Scheme, 2018.
Under this legal enactment of the Centre, the state government is mandated to provide special protection to the witnesses so that they assist in the investigation without fear.
“The Supreme Court in the State of Gujarat versus. Anirudh Singh (1997) held that it was the duty of every witness to help the state by giving evidence and for the same respective local government would have to provide special protection for them,” advocate Anindya Sunder Das, the petitioner, said while seeking special protection for witnesses in the Hanskhali case.
The advocate had moved his petition on Wednesday but the bench had adjourned its verdict. On Thursday evening, the verdict was uploaded on the high court website.
A 14-year-old girl had been allegedly gangraped on April 4. She bled to death a few hours later and was forcibly cremated. The son of a local Trinamul leader and his friends are accused of the crime.
26 Covid cases
Bengal on Thursday reported 26 new Covid-19 infections, 39 recoveries and no death.
At present, there are 245 active cases in the state: 218 in home isolation and 27 in hospitals, according to the state bulletin. The state’s recovery rate on Thursday was 98.94 per cent, while the mortality rate was 1.05 per cent.