It has been alleged that she was brutally gang-raped and killed. The 14-year-old girl from Hanskhali village of West Bengal’s Nadia district is no longer alive to defend herself or tell her side of the narrative. Instead, the matter has turned into a political game with the ruling and opposition parties trying to outscore each other.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), meanwhile, has started a probe on directions from the Calcutta High Court.
The girl’s family members are struggling to get justice. What they hadn’t expected to have to struggle for was getting a priest for her last rites.
The rituals were to be done on Thursday. But the priest did not turn up the whole day because she was allegedly raped, say relatives.
When family members initially spoke to the village priest, he agreed to carry out the rites, they said. However, when he came to know how she died, he decided to stay away, they alleged.
News18 reached out to the village priest coordinator Biswanath Chakraborty. He said, “I am old. My age is more than 80. If I send someone to do this ritual and if that person faces a problem…See, we don’t want to get into any controversy. That’s why we have not gone.”
After a whole day of trying, local Left leaders arranged for a priest who finally performed the rituals in the evening.
Observers say there have been repeated instances in the country of those affected by sexual abuse and their families being stigmatised by some sections of society.
Left leader Nilendu Rog said, “What to do, nobody was ready to come. Their girl has been raped, it’s not their fault. We have arranged one priest, though he too is a bit shaken. But we have made him understand that he is doing a good thing.”
The girl died after she was allegedly gang-raped at a birthday party in Hanskhali this month. Her family alleged that the main accused is the son of a panchayat member from the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress. He has been arrested and an investigation is on.
The priest, Ashok Banerjee, who finally conducted the last rites, told News18 he was afraid. “But they gave me courage. My son was saying, no, but I came. If something will happen to me, we will see.”
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