In the five months since the rape and murder of the 31-year-old post-graduate trainee at the RG Kar medical college and hospital, three rapists-murderers in have been sentenced to death in Bengal for their crimes.

While Calcutta and suburban Bengal hit the streets demanding swift justice for the victim at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, three minor girls were raped and murdered in three district towns.

On Friday, the day before the CBI court’s verdict in the RG Kar case, a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) court in Hooghly’s Chinsurah awarded the death penalty to Ashok Singh, 45, for raping and murdering a minor. The girl would have turned six on Thursday.

The court had pronounced Singh guilty on Wednesday.

On November 24 last year, the child had gone missing from her home in Gurap in Hooghly, some 64 km north of Kolkata.

Hours later, her body was found at Singh’s residence

Singh had lured the child promising her chocolates before raping and murdering her. He was arrested the same night. The trial started on December 18 after the local police filed the chargesheet within 14 days.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed gratitude to the police.

In a post on X, she said: “Today, the court has pronounced death sentence for the convict who had raped and murdered the small girl of Gurap and I thank the Judiciary for that. I thank Hooghly Rural District Police for their swift action and thorough probe that ensured speedy trial and conviction in 54 days. My heart goes to the family, and I share their pain and longing.”

Mamata, who also holds the home (police) department portfolio, added: “A rapist has no place in our world. All of us together will make it a safer place for our children through stringent law, social reforms, effective and unforgiving administration. No such crime will go unpunished.”

Five days before Durga Puja last year – when the protests following the RG Kar incident were on in full swing – a nine-year-old girl on her way home from tuition classes was raped and murdered by Mustaqin Sardar, 19, in South 24 Parganas’ Kultali, around 102km south of Kolkata.

Based on the statements of eyewitnesses and CCTV footage, Sardar was apprehended and interrogated. He confessed to the crime and also informed the cops where he had hidden the child’s corpse.

The state police completed the probe and submitted the chargesheet within 25 days. On December 6, a Pocso court in Baruipur, South 24 Parganas announced the death sentence to Sardar.

On the morning of Vijaya Dashami last year, a 10-year old who had come to visit her maternal grandparents in Farakka’s Mathpara area, around 297km north of Kolkata, went missing from a playground.

On learning that the girl was seen with a local resident, 35-year-old Dinabandhu Haldar, the family members knocked on his door two hours later.

Haldar denied having seen the girl and refused to open the door. The search continued for some more hours and the family members with a large number of neighbours forced Haldar to open the door.

The child was found dead inside a plastic bag with a cloth stuffed in her mouth and multiple injuries. During investigation the cops learnt that another person, Subhajit Haldar, was also involved in the rape and murder.

Of the two convicts, both necrophiliacs, Dinabandhu was sentenced to death while his accomplice was served a life sentence on December 13 last year.