Four persons, including three juveniles, were arrested on charges of sexually assaulting and murdering a 13-year-old girl whose body was found floating in a lake in Hooghly district on Saturday four days after she had gone missing, police said.
The family of the girl, a class 7 student who did not return home after she went to visit a Durga Puja pandal on the night of Dussehra (October 5), has alleged that she was murdered after being raped.
“The three minor accused, including a distant relative of the victim, were sent to a juvenile home. The four were arrested on Sunday night from an area which is nearly 1km from the place where the victim’s body was found. They all tried to molest her before one of them pushed her into the lake,” Hooghly Superintendent of Police (rural) Amandeep said.
The four were drunk at the time of the incident, police said.
A case has been registered under Sections 302 (murder), 363 (kidnapping) and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against the accused.
The preliminary post-mortem report had found no signs of rape, police said.
“The post-mortem examination reveals that the death occurred due to drowning but there were resistance marks on one of her legs,” said a senior officer.
Police said the accused during their interrogation revealed that one of them pushed the girl into the lake after she resisted rape attempt by his accomplice.
It was the victim’s distant relative who had called her to the lakeside where he was waiting for her along with his three friends, officials said. The girl didn’t know how to swim and thus could not get out of water, they said, adding that the accused along took her bicycle in a bid to evade arrest.
Demanding strictest punishment for the culprits, the victim’s mother said, “The criminals should be punished no matter who they are.”
On Friday, a case of kidnapping was lodged at the local police station. The girl’s family has alleged that the police were not prompt to file a complaint in the matter.
SP Amandeep said the probe was on and a strict action will be taken against officials if found guilty of dereliction of duty.
