TMC Alleges Staged Encounter After Minor's Rape-Murder in Baruipur

The rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Baruipur, West Bengal, has ignited a violent political conflict between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Trinamool Congress. After the victim was found dead in a pond, the government under Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and arrested several suspects. Outrage grew as Mamata Banerjee and other TMC leaders organized candlelight marches and rallies in Kolkata, alleging law-and-order failures and claiming Banerjee was blocked from visiting the victim's family.

Tensions escalated when police killed primary suspect Prabhas Mondal during a crime scene reconstruction. The Baruipur Superintendent of Police stated Mondal was killed in retaliatory fire after attempting to snatch a service weapon. However, TMC MP Kirti Azad alleged the encounter was a staged operation to prevent Mondal, whom he identified as a BJP worker, from disclosing sensitive internal party secrets.

While rebel TMC MPs Saayoni Ghosh and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar visited the family to demand capital punishment, the BJP dismissed the opposition's reactions as opportunistic. The Calcutta High Court eventually permitted the TMC to hold a protest rally in Kolkata, where party members and medical students gathered to condemn the crime and the government's handling of the investigation.