Several villages in the Rampurhat area of West Bengal’s Birbhum district remained on the boil for the past several days over the murder of a Class VII girl student.
On Tuesday (September 16, 2025), the Birbhum district police recovered the mutilated body of the 13-year-old girl under the Rampurhat police station area.
Villagers have blocked Rampurhat-Dumka Road, the National Highway connecting West Bengal to Jharkhand, over the gruesome crime. The blockade continued on Friday.
The Birbhum police arrested Manoj Kumar Pal, an assistant teacher of the school, where the victim was a student, on Wednesday for the murder, but the protest has not stopped. The locals have also attacked the school headmaster and forced the authorities to close the school.
NCW demand
The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Friday (September 19, 2025) took a suo motu cognisance of the incident and commission chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar wrote to the Director General of Police seeking a swift and thorough investigation. The commission has also sought psychological and legal support for the victim’s family.
Ms. Rahatkar also sought verification of any prior complaint against the accused, when the girl was reported missing and the early filing of charge sheet. The teenage girl went missing on August 28.
The BJP staged a protest in front of the Rampurhat police station on Thursday, accusing the law enforcers of inefficiency, even in failing to recover the full remains of the girl’s body.
“Police even failed to recover the lower part of the body. Trinamool Congress leaders, under the guise of different tribal outfits, are trying to mislead the villagers and the family,” alleged Dhruba Saha, Birbhum BJP president.
The family members said they were yet to recover the entire body of the victim. They want investigation by a Central agency and the autopsy be conducted at the Kalyani AIIMS, a Central government facility.
Meanwhile, Birbhum police officials said the arrested teacher had confessed to the crime. The rented accommodation where the teacher used to live has been locked and forensic experts have been called. The police have not ruled out sexual assault in the case.
Sexual assaults
Incidents of sexual assault have rocked the State over the past one year, particularly after the rape and murder of a doctor at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, 2024. On Friday, members of the civil society held protests outside the office of the Central Bureau of Investigation, raising questions as to why a supplementary charge sheet has not been filed in the case. A city court has convicted Sanjay Roy, a former civic police volunteer for life for his involvement in the rape and murder.
The Kolkata police on Friday filed a chargesheet naming four accused, including Monojit Mishra, former head of Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) student wing, in connection with the gangrape of a student at the South Calcutta Law College. The crime was allegedly committed on June 25. The sexual assault survivor has discontinued the course at the college.
Published – September 19, 2025 07:24 pm IST
