Two cases of atrocities on young girls, one in North 24-Parganas and the other in Hooghly, have surfaced, adding to the list of rapes and molestations taking place in Bengal with alarming frequency in recent times.

A Class X student was allegedly kidnapped and raped by a youth as she was returning home from private coaching centre at a place in North 24-Parganas district on Friday night.

The incident surfaced on Saturday evening, when overwhelmed by her humiliation and distress, the teenager attempted to end her life by hanging herself at home.

Her family intervened in time and saved her. Then she told them of her ordeal.

Following a complaint filed by the girl’s parents, police arrested the accused, Sujit Pal, a married man who had reportedly been harassing the girl for over a year.

Family sources reported that the accused intercepted the girl on her way home from the coaching centre, forcibly took her to an isolated area and raped her. He then released her, threatening severe consequences if she disclosed the incident to anyone, a family member said.

Struggling to cope with the trauma, the girl returned home on Friday night. However, unable to bear the emotional burden, attempted suicide on Saturday afternoon. “It was only when we tried to console her that she revealed the ordeal she had endured,” a family member shared.

In another incident, police on Saturday night arrested a person in Hooghly for molesting a 16-year-old girl at her home.

According to police sources, the accused had been drinking with the girl’s father at their home when he suddenly turned on the teenager and assaulted her. Police apprehended him within three hours near a railway station in Hooghly.

The incident quickly took on a political dimension, with Balagarh Trinamool Congress MLA Manoranjan Byapari visiting the police station to meet the accused.

Later, the MLA visited the teenager's family at her residence, openly condemning the incident.

Byapari declared that had he encountered the accused before the police did, he would have "broken" his limbs before handing him over to authorities.

“I told him in the cell that he was lucky to avoid crossing my path before the police arrived. I demand the harshest punishment for such a crime against women,” Byapari said.

On Sunday, BJP activists blocked GT Road near Talandu in Hooghly to protest against not only this incident but also against the rising cases of molestation and rape across the state.

Byapari had also spoken out against rising sexual assaults on women through his social media post on Saturday, wondering how people got the "courage" to commit such crimes. BJP leaders said Byapari should resign as Trinamool MLA if he intended to speak out against gender-based violence in Bengal.