Representatives of state and national child rights commissions visited Malda district within 12 hours to inquire into the recent beheading of a nine-year-old girl allegedly by her uncle.
However, the two commissions differed in their opinions on the probe and the police.
Yashabanti Sreemany, a member of the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights, and Siddiqua Parveen, its law consultant, visited the deceased's home on Saturday night. Sreemany called the police probe "satisfactory".
On Sunday, Divya Gupta, a member of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), reached Malda with Katyayani Anand, the national commission's legal consultant and visited the girl's home.
Gupta, however, questioned "certain lapses". "The girl was missing since January 29 but the crime was detected after 48 hours. Is this because the police were busy handling political rallies in Malda? The victim’s family detected the accused on CCTV footage,” she said. She also alleged that the brutal crime could not have been committed by one person. "Why are the police not furnishing the details of others? Are they being protected by influential persons?" she asked.
