Baruipur rape case: Prime accused Prabhas Mondal shot dead in police encounter during crime scene reconstruction | Today’s news
One of the prime accused in the rape case of an 11-year-old girl in West Bengal’s Baruipur was shot dead in an alleged encounter with the police in the early hours of Wednesday when he “wrested a firearm from a police officer and tried to escape from custody” during the reconstruction of the crime scene, PTI reported, citing a senior police official.
Encounter deaths are quite common in Uttar Pradesh under the Yogi Adityanath government, but this is the first such case in West Bengal since the BJP government under Suvendu Adhikari came to power in the state.
Prabhas Mondal was the first person to be arrested in connection with the case and was investigated as the prime accused after CCTV footage allegedly showed him with the girl shortly before she disappeared.
According to a senior official, Mondal was taken to Surjyapur of South 24 Parganas district around 12.45 pm as investigators tried to reconstruct the crime scene. They alleged that Mondal was misrepresenting the investigation and his statements were contradictory.
“During the exercise, he suddenly snatched the policeman’s service firearm and tried to run away. He also fired at the police team once. The police retaliated in self-defence in which he sustained gunshot injuries,” the police officer was quoted as saying by PTI.
Mondal was later taken to Baruipur sub-divisional hospital where he was declared brought dead.
How the mother of the accused reacted
Mondal’s mother, Sandhya Mondal, refused to claim her son’s body, saying he had suffered the consequences of his actions.
“He got what he deserved for what he did,” she told reporters after police informed her of his death early Wednesday.
“Two policemen came to my house. I just woke up. They told me that my son is dead, so I would like to go to the hospital. I told them that I can’t go because my husband is sick. I told them to go ahead and do what they want because I have no objection. My son was punished for what he did. I will not accept his body. I did not and will not bring his body back. I did not do anything that was wrong. Kill him or you do what you want. I will not accept his body,” she quoted ANI.
The case resulted in widespread outrage, with residents blocking Baruipur-Joynagar Road, burning tires and destroying police vehicles, demanding immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of those responsible.
A few hours after the girl’s body was discovered, a man was also lynched. The government later revealed that the man was innocent.
Adhikari visited Baruipur on Tuesday and held a review meeting with senior police officials. He directed DGP Siddh Nath Gupta to submit a report on the rape-murder case within 72 hours and declared that his government would follow a “zero tolerance” policy towards such crimes.
