West Bengal: Minor girl dies after suspected gang-rape, son of local TMC leader held

A minor girl died after she was allegedly gang-raped at a birthday party in Hanskhali in West Bengal's Nadia district, police said on Sunday.

The girl's family claimed that the main accused is the son of a Trinamool Congress panchayat member, who has been arrested for further investigation, they said.

The parents of the minor, a student of Class 9, lodged a complaint against the accused at Hanskhali police station on Saturday, four days after the incident.

According to the complaint, the girl went to the residence of the accused on Monday afternoon to attend his birthday party, but she returned home in an ailing condition and died soon after.

"Our daughter was bleeding profusely and had severe abdominal pain after she came back from the party at the residence of the local TMC leader's son, and before we could take her to hospital, she died.

"From the sequence of events and after talking to the people present at the party, we are sure she was gang-raped by the accused and his friends," the girl's mother told reporters.

She also alleged that a group of people forcibly took the minor's body for cremation even before her death certificate was issued.

Reacting to the development, senior TMC leader and the state's Minister of Women and Child Development, Sashi Panja, said the ruling party has zero tolerance for abuse of minors and women.

"There should not be any politics over the incident. Police will do everything possible to investigate and take further action," she said.

Meanwhile, opposition BJP has called for a 12-hour bandh in Hanskhali in protest against the incident.