Kolkata: The chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Priyank Kanoongo on Saturday alleged that the members of West Bengal state commison for the protection of child rights were not allowing them to conduct an inquiry into the incident of alleged gang rape of a minor girl in Malda. During a visit to the residence of a rape victim in Malda on Saturday, Kanoongo had a verbal spat with the members of the state commission.
"The chairperson of the state commission is not letting us enter the premises. I requested they let us do our work. The matter is 10 days old. We came here because the commission was not doing anything," Kanoongo told reporters here.
As per the NCPCR statement released on March 30, the team said they will look into the incident of the alleged murder of a 7-year-old minor girl in Kolkata's Tijala area and into the incident of gang rape with a Class 6 girl by outsiders during school hours that allegedly occurred inside a government school in Malda.
He said that the commission wanted to enquire if all rules were followed during the investigation of the incident & whether the school followed all security measures.
"I think that the senior officers are responsible for this. The mother of the child had registered a case," he added."If the police were vigilant we could have saved the child," Kanoongo alleged.
He claimed that the Bengal police were surreptitiously recording the investigation proceedings of the NCPCR regarding the murder of a girl in Kolkata and the rape of another minor in Malda.
"The policemen were surreptitiously recording the NCPCR investigation proceedings. They beat me up for protesting," he added. Earlier, The NCPCR announced that it would be on a two-day visit to West Bengal on Friday and Saturday to conduct a fact-finding inquiry related to recent cases of murder and sexual assault.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has been constituted under the provisions of the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005 for the protection of child rights and other related matters. One of the functions assigned to the Commission under Section 13 (1) (j) of the CPCR Act is to inquire into complaints and take suo motu cognizance in relation to deprivation and violation of child rights.
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
