Girl's nude body found on railway track in Bengal

Siliguri/Kolkata, Sep 3: The nude body of a girl, who had pleaded with locals not to beat up her father after a kangaroo court rejected his request for more time to pay for a rented tractor, was found lying on a railway track in West Bengal, triggering an uproar.

Police said Wednesday the teenaged girl's father - a farmer - lodged a complaint of rape, murder and abduction against 13 people at Dhupguri police station in Jalpaiguri district after identifying the body Tuesday.

Protesting against the incident, leaders of main opposition Left Front met Governor K.N. Tripathi and sought his intervention.

One person has been arrested and two others detained in connection with the incident, said Jalpaiguri Additional Superintendent of Police James Kujur.

The body has been sent for post-mortem examination to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, he said.

The girl's father had rented a tractor. However, he could not pay the rent on time. A reconciliation meeting convened Monday night had rejected his request for some more time to make the payment, police said.

A complaint of rape, murder and abduction against 13 people has been registered.

A Trinamool Congress councillor of Dhupguri municipality was present at the meeting.

As locals started assaulting the farmer, the girl tried to stop them.

She was taken away from the meeting by a person known to the family. The girl went missing and her body was found Tuesday.

The incident sparked protests from the public and political parties.

A team of Left Front leaders, who called on Tripathi at the Raj Bhavan, said they asked him to gather information on the incident and take the required measures.

"We told him we have never before seen such cruel, barbaric incident in West Bengal," said Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Anisur Rahman.

"The governor told us he will seek report from the director general of police and the chief secretary. And if need be, he will seek information from the chief minister," said Revolutionary Socialist Party leader Subhas Naskar.

All schools in Dhupguri remained closed following a strike called by the student and youth wings of the CPI-M Wednesday, demanding exemplary punishment to those responsible.

The protesters also observed "black day" and blocked the national highway 31 that runs through Dhupguri.

Bharatiya Janata Party workers held a demonstration at Dhupguri police station Tuesday.

District Trinamool president Sourav Chakrabarty said his party believed the girl had committed suicide, but demanded an impartial police probe into the circumstances that led to her death.

"We have not tried to influence the police. And I don't think anybody from the Trinamool is involved," he said.

IANS