Three days after she was allegedly raped and killed, a Class X student of the Kakdwip area in South 24 Parganas in West Bengal was cremated on Monday, only after charges of rape were brought against the accused.
The father of the 16-year-old girl was taken to a local court and on the basis of his complaint, charges under the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act were brought against the accused.
Locals claimed that it was the protests by them which forced the police to register the charges of sexual assault.
Tension prevailed in the area during the day and the locals who had gathered in front of the Kakdwip police station attacked few shops. Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Samik Bhattacharya also faced protest by angry locals. “We have not come here to indulge in politics but to be part of the united protest against such atrocities,” he later told journalists.
The girl was found dead on Saturday. Though the police have arrested one accused, Gopal Hazra, and produced him in a court, the family members and villagers alleged that charges of sexual assault were not brought against the accused.
