Houses of Kushmandi rape accused set afire

Balurghat (West Bengal): Four houses belonging to the accused in the Kushmandi rape case were allegedly set on fire by a mob in South Dinajpur district on Friday, but none was injured, the police said.

The mob, comprising people from both South and North Dinajpur districts, protesting against the alleged gangrape of a mentally-challenged tribal woman, had gathered at Buniadpur in South Dina-jpur district early in the morning, an official said.

They then marched to Ghatpara village, before setting the houses on fire, he added.

Fire and emergency services officials, with the help of villagers, brought the flames under control but by then, the fire had spread to a few other houses, Bipul Banerjee, sub-divisional police officer, Gangarampur, said.

A number of police personnel were posted at the village to prevent a law-and-order problem in the village, he added.

Meanwhile, on the condition of the victim, Pratip Kumar Kundu, principal professor at the Malda Medical College and Hospital, where the woman is being treated, said, “We cannot say anything for certain as of now,” adding that the victim was speaking at times, but in a disjointed manner.

The mentally-challenged tribal woman was allegedly gangraped in Kushmandi in South Dinajpur district on February 17 and brutalised by her tormentors, who had inserted an iron rod into her private parts, before fleeing the spot.

On the fateful evening, the woman had gone to a fair at Patirajpur, on the inter-district border, from where she was forcibly taken away by several persons and gangraped in an agricultural field under a bridge.

The locals spotted her the next evening and alerted the police, who rushed her to the Raiganj district hospital, where she underwent a surgery.

Since the condition of the woman was said to be critical, she was referred to the Malda Medical College Hospital.

A police complaint was filed by one of her neighbours. Two persons — aged 50 years and 45 years respectively — were arrested from Itahar in neighbouring North Dinajpur district in connection with the incident on February 20.

West Bengal CM  Mamata Banerjee had told a rally in South Dinajpur the next day that the victim was like her ‘’own sister’’ and that her government would take care of her future.