Birbhum police on Friday submitted a charge sheet in connection with the murder of a minor girl, within 10 days of recovering her mutilated body parts and arresting a teacher at a high school near Rampurhat in Birbhum district, where she was his
student.
“We put our best foot forward, using all possible efforts to complete the investigation
at the earliest. Our special investigating team worked tirelessly to gather evidence against the accused schoolteacher and file the charge sheet promptly. Once the court reopens after the Puja vacation, our target is to deliver speedy justice to the victim’s family,” said Amandeep, Birbhum police chief, who headed the investigating team.
On August 28, the Class VII student, who belonged to a tribal family, went missing on her way back from private tuition. Her father lodged a missing person complaint after failing to trace his daughter despite desperate efforts.
The decomposed body parts, which had been cut into pieces, were discovered on the night of September 16. The police arrested her school’s physics teacher, Manoj Kumar Pal, identifying him as the culprit. Villagers blocked the Rampurhat-Dumka state highway for over 24 hours in protest against the incident.
The investigators said Pal was the sole accused.
In the charge sheet, the police invoked multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including rape, kidnapping, and murder, besides provisions under the Pocso Act and the SC/ST Atrocities Act, since the victim was a minor and belonged to a tribal community.
Although the police did not disclose many investigation-related details, they confirmed that the teacher had first kidnapped the girl on August 28 and brutally murdered her within a day or two.
“Some forensic reports are still awaited, and we are likely to submit supplementary charge sheets. We will ensure that the accused receives capital punishment and that the girl’s family gets justice at the earliest,” Amandeep said.
The CPM took out a march demanding a speedy investigation and the recovery of the remaining body parts. Senior CPM leaders, including politburo member Ram Chandra Dome and Shatarup Ghosh, joined the protest.
Birbhum SP Amandeep said that the police deployed drone cameras and a large contingent of forces to search for the missing body parts.
The recovered body parts were packed in a nylon sack, which was fished out of an irrigation canal near Rampurhat.