A 15-year-old schoolgirl from a place near Jalpaiguri town was allegedly raped and murdered by five youths on Saturday evening when she was alone at home.

Angry residents on Sunday ransacked the homes of the accused. Police have arrested an accused and are searching for others.

The girl’s father, in his police complaint, alleged that five local youths raped and strangulated her.

Sources said that on Saturday 5pm, the girl’s elder sister left home for her tuition and parents to visit a relative. “Around 8.30pm, a youth called up my elder daughter and said her sister was dead,” said the father, adding that this youth used to “tease and trouble my younger daughter”.

When the shocked parents and elder daughter came home, they found the girl lying on the floor. “A noose made with a sari was hanging from the ceiling,” the father said, adding it was meant to look like suicide.

She was pronounced dead at the district hospital.

Police officers said one of the youths named in the father’s complaint was arrested.

“We are searching for four others and are awaiting the girl’s post-mortem report. Our men are posted in the area to prevent any tension,” said Samir Pal, the Jalpaiguri DSP (headquarters).

Assam youth dies

Cooch Behar: An Assam resident died at a hospital here on Saturday, a few hours after he was intercepted by the Border Security Force near the Bangladesh border in Cooch Behar district.

The BSF has filed a complaint at Tufanganj police station in the district, alleging that 25-year-old Musa Miah was involved in cattle smuggling and two cows had been seized from him.

Miah, who hailed from Mathakhawa village in Dhubri district of Assam, was detained by the BSF’s 62nd battalion posted at Madhya Balabhut border outpost.

In the evening, the youth fell sick and BSF personnel brought him to the subdivisional hospital in Tufanganj. Later, he was shifted to MJN Medical College and Hospital in Cooch Behar where he died around 6pm.

OUR CORRESPONDENT