Last week, a 14-year-old girl died after she was allegedly gangraped by the son of a panchayat member, who is known for his allegiance to the ruling Trinamool Congress party and others.
Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday transferred the investigation into the Hanskhali gangrape and murder case in West Bengal to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and asked the agency to file a progress report on the investigation in the next date of hearing, May 2.
In an order by the division bench of Justices Prakash Srivastava and Rajarshi Bharadwaj, the court said, “The State Investigating Agency will hand over all the papers relating to the investigation along with the custody of the accused persons to the CBI forthwith. The CBI will furnish a report about the progress of investigation before this Court on the next date of hearing. The concerned authorities are also directed to extend full protection to the family members of the victim and witnesses of the case.”
Last week, a 14-year-old girl died after she was allegedly gangraped by the son of a panchayat member, who is known for his allegiance to the ruling Trinamool Congress party, and others, in the state’s Nadia district. Later, while speaking at an event, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had cast her doubt on the case and had sought to know if she was raped or was she already pregnant.
Banerjee had also said that the girl was allegedly in a relationship with the accused. She further accuses the Opposition and the media of giving the incident a political twist. While Brajgopal Goala (21), the son of Samar Goala, a member of the local gram panchayat, was already arrested, his friend and a co-accused in the case was held on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the court added, “In the circumstances of the case and after considering the above legal position, we are of the opinion that in order to have fair investigation in the matter and to instill confidence in the family members of the victim and also the residents of the locality and the State, the investigation should be carried out by the CBI instead of the local police. Hence, we direct the State Investigating Agency to hand over the investigation to the CBI with immediate effect.”
The court also said, “The entire case may be based upon the circumstantial evidence because the dead body has been cremated hurriedly, therefore, minute investigation with advanced technology is required.”
The case was registered under Sections 376(2)(G) (gangrape), 302 (murder), 204 (tampering with evidence) of the Indian Penal Code and appropriate sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
