The investigation into the death of an 11-year-old girl in West Bengal’s Baruipur took a major turn after one of the accused was killed in an alleged encounter early on Wednesday. According to a senior official, Prabhas Mondal tried to escape from police custody during a crime scene reconstruction exercise, which resulted in the shootout.
Mondal was taken to the crime scene to recreate the event. Police claimed he snatched the firearm of a policeman and fired a round in a bid to escape. The officials exchanged fire, which resulted in Mondal suffering grave injuries. He was quickly rushed to the hospital and declared dead on arrival.
Mondal is one of the four main accused in the rape and murder case. The other two, Anand Sardar and Dibakar Sarkar, are in custody, while the fourth accused, Kabir Mollah, was lynched to death by the public.
Meanwhile, Mondal’s mother, Sandhya Mondal, gave a statement disowning her son after the incident. The family has refused to see the body of Mondal or accept it, reported Anandbazaar Patrika.
Sandhya said the local police arrived at their home on Wednesday morning to inform them about the death. “The police came and asked, 'Is your son's name Prabhas Mondal?' I said yes. Then he said, 'Your son is dead. Do you want to see him?” she told reporters.
"Whatever he did, he paid for it. It's good," Sandhya added. When asked whether she would bring her son’s body home, Sandhya said, "I won't go to get his body. I don't want to see him. No one will go to get his body."
The woman added that her family was in extreme distress ever since his name was implicated in the rape-murder. "He would not listen to his mother. He was addicted to drugs," she added.
Mondal was the first to get arrested in the case after local people told police that the girl was last seen with him. Police probe revealed CCTV footage from the area showing the girl with Mondal. He was arrested soon.
The police had claimed that Prabhas was not cooperating in the investigation in any way and was constantly trying to mislead the officers.
Investigation also revealed that this was a planned attack and Mondal had lured the girl to a secluded spot, where the three suspects had been waiting. After this, they stuffed her into a sack and threw her into the pond.
The autopsy reports of the minor suggest that she was alive when she was thrown in the pond and that she died due to drowning. Injury marks in her private parts, along with scratch and bite marks across her body, also indicated sexual assault.
