Kolkata, Sep 18: In a shocking incident, Haridas Roy, a 58-year-old constable, was arrested for allegedly raping a minor inside a police barrack in Dinhata in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal. The girl is class 4 student. The incident happened on September 6. Roy was arrested on Saturday.
The last such atrocity by a policeman in Bengal was in 1992 when Nilkamal Ghosh, a constable, along with two others, were found guilty by a court for raping a pavement dweller within Phoolbagan police station in Kolkata. Ghosh was given imprisonment for life.
“Roy was immediately suspended from the police force. He was arrested and produced at a district court. The culprit will not be spared,” Cooch Behar district police superintendent, Anoop Jaiswal told HT on Monday.
Trinamool Congress legislator from Dinhata assembly constituency, Udayan Guha said that the crime was committed within the police barracks.
“The victim, who is 11 years old, was silent in the first few days due to shock. Later she revealed the atrocity to her mother. Finally, on September 16 evening, the culprit was arrested. He was produced at a district court on September 17, which sent him to 14 days in jail custody,” Guha said.
The victim was taken for counselling on Monday. She is supposed to undergo the medical test after the counselling.
The victim’s mother, a widow, runs a small eatery near the police barrack at Dinhata town, more than 700 km from Kolkata. The victim used to study at a local school and help her mother in running the eatery. The police personnel residing at the barrack were regular customers of the eatery.
District police sources said that on the morning of September 6, the girl went to the barrack to deliver bread and vegetable curry. Roy pounced on her, dragged her to a room and raped her.
“When the victim informed her mother about the incident, she first went to the police barrack. But Roy threatened them and asked them not to reveal it to anybody. Then she went to the teachers of the school where her daughter studied. Eventually, with the help of the teachers, she filed a complaint at Dinhata Police station on September 16,” said a district police officer.
Source Tribune India
