Birbhum gangrape: 5-member SIT formed, headman's phone record retained

(WB), Jan 27: With resentment growing over the gruesome

of a 20-year old tribal woman for falling in love with a man of a different community, the West Bengal government removed Bahadur Mondal, a sub-inspector with the Labhpur PS for goofing up the

.

Following this, a 5-member SIT, headed by DSP(HQ) of the district, has been constituted to probe the case. Meanwhile, the victim's lover and his brother, who had bailed him out by paying the ransom demanded by the panchayat, have been traced in Jharkhand and have been kept under house arrest in Labhpur as the police believes that the duo would prove to be essential witnesses in the case.

The police is also reported to have secured a mobile phone recording of the Panchayat from one of the arrested villagers.

After the suo motu intervention of the Supreme Court, the district judge is scheduled to visit the victim at Siuri hospital and also the site of the crime.

The tribal girl was raped by 12 men as a punishment announced by the village panchayat after she said that she could not afford to pay the sum of Rs 25,000 demanded by them as penalty for falling in love with a man of a different community.

OneIndia News