West Bengal: CBI files charge sheet in Hanskhali gang rape and murder case

KOLKATA: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday filed a charge sheet in the court of special judge (POCSO court), against nine persons in the Hanskhali gang rape and murder of a minor girl.
The prime accused in the case, Brojo Goyali and his father samarendra gayali, were named in the charge sheet.
Apart from the father-son duo, the CBI named Angsuman Bagchi, Prabhakar Poddar, Ranjit Mallick, Akash Barai alias Tarak, Dipta Gayali, and Pijush Kanti Bhakta in the charge-sheet.
Both Samarendra and Bhakta were accused of tampering with the evidence.
Two accused persons, including Poddar, were arrested by the police on April 12, hours before the CBI took over the case.
A mason by profession, Ranjit Mallik used to work at a site in Howrah. He came to Hanskhali four days before the incident.
The CBI registered a case on April 13 against four identified accused and unknown others following a Calcutta high court order.
"Investigation revealed that the three accused allegedly gang-raped the girl after intoxicating her. It was further alleged that the family of the victim was threatened by three other accused in conspiracy with the prime accused, preventing the family from taking her to the hospital. The minor victim died the following morning. It was also alleged that the accused immediately took the body of the victim and cremated it without giving an opportunity for medical examination," the CBI said in a statement.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)