The parents of the 10-year-old rape-and-murder victim of Kultali in South 24-Parganas met chief minister Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna on Monday.

Parents of the victims said after the meeting at the state administrative headquarters that the chief minister assured them that the government would try to ensure conviction of the accused, who had been arrested within six hours of the crime, within three to four months in court and would plead capital punishment for the culprit.

“The chief minister assured us that our girl would get justice and the government would plead for capital punishment of the culprit,” said the father of the victim.

The parents of the victim, along with another family member, were brought to Nabanna by Saokat Molla, the TMC MLA from Canning (Purba) in South 24-Parganas around 3pm on Monday.

The meeting between Mamata and the victim’s family lasted for about 20 minutes.

Monday's meeting, sources said, assumed significance because of people's anger at the cops in this case.

On the night of October 4, the family had informed the local police station that the girl was missing, but the cops had "refused" to act on it, citing jurisdiction technicalities.

On October 5 morning, when the body of the class 4 student was recovered, local people had erupted in anger against the police as well as the administration, alleging that the cops had played the jurisdiction card instead of trying to find the girl.

“Several protests were staged across the state as this incident had taken place in the backdrop of the RG Kar crime. Even representatives of the agitating junior doctors had visited Kultali and met the family of the victims. So, the meeting between the parents and the chief minister holds significance,” said a source.

Trinamul Congress insiders said that the incident needed to be handled efficiently as the party would not have wanted to face a situation similar to the aftermath of the rape and murder of a junior doctor in RG Kar hospital.

“Had this incident blown out of proportion, it would not have been a good sign for Trinamool as the party has a strong presence in the district.... If the leaders of South 24-Parganas failed to handle the Kultali incident properly, it would have sent a message that the party's base was getting eroded. The party would not like to face such a situation,” said a TMC leader from South 24-Parganas.

The ruling party engaged Molla to get in touch with the victim’s family and convince them that the government would fight to ensure justice for them, sources said.

“The party was successful in convincing the family that the government was working hard to prove the accused guilty. At the same time, the administration also worked hard to collect all required evidence to present in court to needed to convict the arrested,” said a ruling party leader.