Horror as girl, 11, gang raped and murdered on way to buy birthday present for friend

Protests are raging on the streets of India after an 11-year-old girl was gang raped and murdered after she went to buy a birthday gift for a friend. A day later on Sunday, July 5 the body of the child was recovered from a pond in the Surjyapur village in Baruipur, on the outskirts of Kolkata.

Her distraught family had contacted the police just hours after she left home to report their child missing, but she was later found dead in another example of brutal violence against women and girls on the subcontinent.

The police reaction to the case and the girl’s family has come under increased scrutiny after it emerged officers allegedly did not take pleas from relatives seriously and said they would look for the child the next day.

Chaos also broke out after officers killed one of the suspects and a mob of angry villagers later lynched an innocent man. Three suspects now remain in police custody after being arrested.

The BBC reports the brutal death of the girl has led to a political row with the state’s newly-elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) being accused of failing to protect women and girls.

The girl went out on Saturday afternoon and when she did not return home her worried family went to the police station around 8.30pm to report her missing. With the police slow to react desperate relatives carried out their own investigation and spotted the girl walking with a man named locally as Prabhash Mondal after trawling through local CCTV.

The villagers took Mondal to the police station and he led officers to the pond where the girl was found wrapped in a sack.

In a statement Baruipur police said Mondal was again taken to the pond to recreate the crime scene for the investigation but that he was shot after a “police encounter” when he tried to grab a weapon.

Mondal was taken to hospital where he was declared dead. Local media reports his mother did not want to receive his body.

In a horrific piece of detail the girl’s cause of death was said to have been drowning, leading to claims she could have been still alive when she was dumped in the pond.

In a damning statement the girl’s family said: “Had the police acted earlier, she could have been saved.”

The death of the girl and the police handling of the case have seen mass protests break out in the region with several officers injured and at least 40 people detained.

Dangerous sectarian politics has also come into play as the girl who was killed was Muslim and the men arrested are all Hindus.

Chief Minister of West Bengal Suvendu Adhikari visited the village on Tuesday and met the victim’s family.

He said: “Our government is committed to curb any such incidents in the state. The police is doing what needs to be done.

“The family has spoke to me, they have lost their beloved daughter. I believe that they are satisfied talking to me.”

According to the ANI news agency, the mother of the suspect killed by police, who had not been proven to have committed the crime, told reporters: “I said (to the police), do whatever you want to do. I have no objection.

“My son has been punished for what he did. I will not accept his body. I will not even bring his body home.”