Hang him with others, if he is involved: Mother of accused in Bengal rape-murder case

“If my son is involved, he should be hanged with the other accused,” said Sandhya Mondal, mother of one of the three men arrested in connection with the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district.

Her son, Prabhash Mondol, was arrested after he was identified in CCTV footage with the girl before she went missing on Saturday. The next morning, her body was found in a sack in a pond. The post-mortem report concluded that the girl was raped and dumped in the pond while she was alive.

According to Prabhash’s mother, he used to work with a catering service, while his wife is a domestic help in Kolkata.

The ransacked house of another accused Ananda Sardar in Baruipur. (Atri Mitra)

“I have three sons. Prabhash is the second one. His behaviour used to be good, but recently he made bad friends. I don’t know what he did on Saturday night. On Sunday morning, I heard that my son was arrested. I have nothing to say. If my son is involved in this crime, I can only say that he should be hanged with the other accused,” said the 62-year-old who works as a domestic help to eke out a living.

“I tried many times to persuade him not to indulge in all these addictions. But do boys these days listen to anyone?” she added.

Prabhash and the two other arrested accused – Dibakar Sardar and Ananda Sardar – are in their 30s, with their houses in the same neighbourhood as that of the dead girl.

Dibakar’s mother, Madhubala Sardar (60), however, claimed that her son was innocent and that the police arrested him, mistaking him for another Dibakar in the village.

The family sells fish in Baruipur and nearby markets.

Story continues below this ad

“You can ask anybody here or in the market, at the wholesale fish market, Hindus or Muslims, they all will say that Dibakar can’t commit such a crime. On Saturday night, he returned home from our fish shop around 8 pm. After that, he didn’t go anywhere. I don’t know whether he was trapped or not, but my son can’t commit such a crime,” said his mother.

His younger brother, Bhaskar, also said they were clueless on what to do next. “There may be one more Dibakar in this area, and the police wrongfully arrested my brother. Police have not allowed us to speak with him,” Bhaskar said.

Nearby, the house of the third accused, Ananda Sardar, remains deserted after it was ransacked by angry villagers on Sunday. Neighbours said the family had fled just before a mob came and attacked his house.

“Ananda worked as a driver. His brother is also a driver. Before this incident, we had not heard of any criminal acts by Ananda. He worked with the girl’s father and used to ferry his wooden furniture,” said a neighbour.

Story continues below this ad

“After the family fled on Sunday morning after the body of the girl was found, hundreds of protesters gheraoed his house and ransacked it. Later, we heard that Ananda was arrested from the Baruipur market area,” added the neighbour.

Besides the three, the police are looking for the fourth suspect, whose identity has not been revealed.

One person, 26-year-old Indrajeet Mondol, was lynched by the mob on Sunday after the body of the girl was found, on suspicion of being involved in the crime.

DGP visits crime spot – a shack

The Police probing the rape and murder case said that one of the accused is suspected to have taken the victim to a shack where two other accused were already present before the crime took place.

Story continues below this ad

“The investigation is underway on the basis of evidence collected from the spot, witness statements, and scientific examination. We are verifying the exact sequence of events and the individual roles of each accused,” a police officer said, adding that the three accused allegedly consumed intoxicants before the assault.

“It is suspected that she was kept inside the shack before an attempt was made to dispose of her. Circumstantial evidence indicates that they tried to carry her in a plastic sack, but after it got torn, they allegedly threw her into a nearby pond,” the officer said.

Meanwhile, Director General of Police (DGP) Siddh Nath Gupta visited the suspected crime spot, accompanied by members of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the matter.

Describing the incident as a “sensitive case”, Gupta later told reporters, “We will not be able to divulge much about the investigation at this stage. Let the probe progress further.”

With PTI