Bengal horror: Girl killed, thrown naked on railway track for saving father

Jalpaiguri: The naked body of a girl, who tried to save her father from being beaten by locals for failing to pay for a rented tractor at a village meeting, has been found lying on railway tracks at Dhupguri in Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal. After identifying the body, her father lodged an FIR against 13 persons at Dhupguri Police Station on Tuesday for “rape, murder and kidnapping” of his daughter, the police said. According to a Hindustan Times report, the father has accused local Trinamool Congress leaders in the village. Jalpaiguri superintendent of police Kunal Agarwal and Additional superintendent of police James Kujur rushed to the spot last night. [caption id=“attachment_1695107” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] Two persons have been detained in this connection and the body has been sent for postmortem, Kujur said. Trouble began at the ‘Salishi Sabha’ (reconciliation meeting) convened at Dhupguri on Monday night when the farmer’s request for some more time to make the payment was turned down, the police said. The local Trinamool Congress councillor of ward number 9 and her husband were present at the meeting, the police said. The girl came out of her house pleading with the locals not to beat her father. A person known to her took her away from the meeting and she was missing since then, the police said. The councillor was not available for comment. While some villagers have reportedly claimed that the girl may have committed suicide, the girl’s uncle has been quoted as saying in the NDTV report that she was threatened openly. The contractor who the girl’s father owed money to has been arrested in the case, the NDTV report said. Student and youth wings of the CPI(M), SFI and DYFI, are observing a students strike and ‘Black Day’ in Dhupguri block on Wednesday, demanding punishment for the culprits. They also put up road blockades on NH 31. BJP activists staged a demonstration in front of Dhupguri Police Station on Tuesday, police said. District Trinamool Congress president Sourav Chakrabarty said the police were investigating and there was no need to give “political colour” to it. PTI