Like the Badaun rape-murder horror of Uttar Pradesh, the body of a nine-year-old girl was found hanging from a tree at Rajnagar village under Nandakumar police station in the Purba (West) Medinipur district.
“The father of the girl who went missing yesterday lodged a complaint with the local police station against three persons on Thursday,” Purba Medinipur SP Sukesh Jain told The Hindu . A case of rape and murder has been filed. However, the girl’s body was brought down before being photographed, sources said.
The main accused, Ratan Das, and two associates were severely beaten up by the irate villagers. Before the police could intervene, Ratan Das was lynched by the mob and two associates were severely beaten up.
Photographs accessed by The Hindu showed that the accused were stripped naked and beaten up and were profusely bleeding. Their bodies were dumped in a goods-carrying rickshaw even as a policeman was watching. The house of the main accused was set on fire.
All three are from a poor tribal sub-clan, called ‘Kak-Mara’ or ‘crow catchers’, who trap birds for survival.
“We have rescued the other two and admitted them to a local hospital,” Mr. Jain said, adding that they had been taken into police custody.
The locals claimed that the body of the girl, who was allegedly tortured and killed, was hung from a tree. When the villagers saw it in the morning they erupted in anger. Mr. Jain confirmed that the body had been brought down when police reached the spot. It has been sent for post-mortem.
The main accused reportedly had a scuffle with the father of a victim a few days ago. Eventually, one of the accused raped and killed the girl. There was tension in the village following the incident and police were deployed to control the situation.
