The ruling TMC in West Bengal on Wednesday said that the CBI probe instituted into the case of a minor girl’s rape and her subsequent death in Hanskhali area of Nadia district must be completed in an “expeditious manner”, describing the incident as a “ghastly crime that shook the conscience of Bengal”.

TMC national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said at a press meet that the government would extend all cooperation to the central agency in the case, two days after Chief Minister and party supremo Mamata Banerjee cast doubt over the cause of the girl’s death.

“We wish the probe gets completed at the earliest and the chargesheet submitted against the accused in the court in a time-bound manner. The guilty cannot evade punishment for this heinous crime.

“We have seen certain political parties are trying to politicise the ghastly incident that shook the conscience of Bengal. We condemn this as such attempts may hamper the probe,” Roy said.

A minor girl was allegedly raped on April 4 at a birthday party at the house of a TMC panchayat official’s son in Hanskhali area of Nadia district, according to a police complaint filed by her parents.

She bled to death the following day, the complaint, filed on April 9, said.

Two persons, including the TMC leader’s son, have been arrested thus far.

The Calcutta High Court has recently ordered a CBI probe into the incident.

Banerjee recently said that the girl, a student of class 9, was in a relationship, further wondering if she died after being slapped and also if she was pregnant.

Roy, during the press meet on Wednesday, urged people “not to circulate unverified reports as that could hamper the probe”.

“Certain reports about the girl’s last rites, her mother’s testimony have being doing the rounds. What is the authenticity of these versions?” he sought to know.

ADVERTISEMENT

Noting that the NCRB data of 2017 showed “90 per cent all atrocities committed against women have been perpetrated by their family or friends”, the TMC leader, “There is a criminal angle in most cases. This shows the degeneration of society and decline in social values. We must first set our own houses in order. Politicking bestial crimes won’t help the cause,” he said.

The BJP had on Wednesday exhorted the governor to take some action in the matter instead of just issuing statements. The CPI(M) and the Congress have also hit the streets in protest against the incident.