Police iterated on Monday that they would file a charge-sheet in the case related to the rape of an adivasi woman in a Dhupguri village in three days as the Trinamul government wanted to avert a possible tribal backlash.
Sources have attributed the promptness in the probe to the BJP’s bid to corner the government in the Daribhit violence in which two youths had died.
The Dhupguri woman had been raped allegedly by her husband’s nephew, Ratnu Munda, with the help of his two friends on Saturday evening. The three were also accused of inserting an iron rod in her private part.
Ratnu and another accused, Parimal Roy, had already been arrested. The duo were produced in the chief judicial magistrate’s court in Jalpaiguri on Monday and remanded in police custody for two days.
Jalpaiguri superintendent of police Amitabha Maiti said: “We could arrest the prime accused and one of his accomplices within 24 hours of the crime. Searches are on to round up the third accused. We need to interrogate the arrested duo further. It has been decided that we will file a chargesheet in the case in three days.”
On Sunday, ADG law and order Anuj Sharma had said the Jalpaiguri police had been asked to submit the chargesheet in three days.
Police sources said the investigators would take the accused to the crime scene to reconstruct the incident.
The police were quick to record the statement of the victim and her husband and arrange transport to shift the woman to Jalpaiguri district hospital from the block hospital in Dhupguri.
“This is because the state government wants to send the message that all possible steps are being taken to ensure that the victim gets justice and the accused are brought to book,” said an observer.
He pointed out that the government had taken a series of initiatives for the socio-economic development of the tribal population. “A speedy investigation is being conducted to prove that the state and its agencies are sincere when it comes to the tribals. Otherwise, the government might face tribals’ ire ”
The government’s alacrity has a lot to do with the tough lessons it learned from the Daribhit incident. “Even though a relative is the main accused in the rape of the tribal woman, the government does not want to leave space for the BJP and other political parties to make it an issue,” said a political analyst.
The tribal woman, who is under treatment at the district hospital, is stable.
As the probe progressed, the police come across new details. “Initially, it was learnt that Ratnu and the other two had dragged her out of home. But later, we found that she had gone to a neighbour’s house to attend a puja on Saturday evening,” said a police officer.
Around 8.30pm, the neighbour and some others found the woman lying near a stream. “She was bleeding and was semi-conscious. I informed her husband, who was at home. He came and took her home. We asked him to take her to hospital but he did not pay attention. On Sunday morning, I came to know that she had been taken to the block hospital,” said Das.