Bengal rape victim’s father speaks of threats

Accused said he will kill the family.

A day after the Calcutta High Court directed the CBI to investigate the rape and subsequent death of a 14–year-old girl at Hanskhali in Nadia, father of the victim broke his silence on Wednesday.

He said the prime accused in the case, Brajagopal Gayali, had threatened him. “Braja Gayali said he will kill us all if we approach any doctor or any hospital. They also warned us that if we go to the police, they will kill us on the way to police station.”

Brajagopal alias Sohail is the son of a local Trinamool Congress leader Samar Gayali.

The victim’s father, who has been admitted to a hospital, said “those who raped my daughter took her body to the crematorium”.  The crematorium was close to his residence and by the time he reached, everything was over. “They took my daughter soon after her death,” the father told media persons from the hospital bed.  

 The alleged incident occurred on April 4. The class IX student had attended a birthday party for Brajagopal Gayali. She died the following day. The Calcutta High Court, in its order on Tuesday, said “to instill confidence in the family members of the victim and also the residents of the locality and the State, the investigation should be carried out by the CBI instead of the local police”. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s remarks on Monday questioning the veracity of the allegations had drawn condemnation from the Opposition parties. “Are you going to call it rape, a love affair or [was she] pregnant?” Ms. Banerjee had said.

On Wednesday, the CBI on the instructions of the High Court started its probe. The agency registered a case under Section 302/376D/201/34 of the IPC and Section 6 of the POCSO Act. The West Bengal police had arrested two persons — the main accused Brajagopal Gayali and Prabhakar Poddar. In fact, the matter came to light on April 10 when the police arrested the prime accused.