BJP Mahila Morcha President Agnimitra Paul at a protest against the alleged rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl in West Bengal on Monday. | PTI

Bengal: Boy accused of student’s rape, death in Uttar Dinajpur found dead, police arrest kin of girl

The police are investigating if the two were in a relationship and if their parents were against it.

by · Scroll.in

The police in West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district on Tuesday arrested the father and two brothers of a 16-year-old girl whose death led to violent clashes on July 19, The Indian Express reported. The arrests were made a day after a boy, accused by the girl’s family of raping and murdering her, was found dead in a pond. The girl’s body was discovered in the same area.

In a complaint, the youth’s family alleged he was murdered by the girl’s family. The situation is tense in Chopra area, around 500 km north of Kolkata, as the boy and the girl were from different religious communities. Police are investigating if the two were in a relationship and if their parents were against it.

“We have arrested the father and two brothers of the girl based on the complaint of the boy’s father,” senior district police officer told the newspaper. “We are investigating both the deaths and trying to find if there is any link between them.”

The boy’s mother confirmed he knew the girl as they were both Class 10 students who had just cleared their board examinations, according to NDTV. However, she said they were not in a relationship and blamed the girl’s family for her son’s death. “Someone called my son over the phone at around 11 pm on Sunday and he left home,” she added. “He later called and said he was with three people and would return soon. That was the last time we spoke to him. The girl’s family, especially her elder brother, has killed my son.”

Meanwhile, the girl’s father has accused the boy of planning her alleged rape and murder. On Monday, the police had said the postmortem report stated the case of death as “effect of poison” and ruled out any physical or sexual assault. The autopsy report of the boy is not available yet.

Separately, 22 people have been arrested in connection with Sunday’s clashes in which buses and police vehicles were set on fire.