Teen killed after she fights mom and leaves home; rape probe on
Times of India | 8 February 2025
Kolkata: A 14-year-old girl, who had left home Gouranganagar, under New Town PS, in a huff after an argument with her mother and sister late on Thursday, was found murdered 6km away early on Friday in a bush next to a canal, a stone's throw from a premium housing complex.
The body was semi-naked and bore multiple bruises, including scratch marks. Police have started a case of rape and murder and sent the body for postmortem.
CCTV footage showed the girl walking, almost 2km from her home, in Jagatpur before she was seen speaking to a biker, who slowed down upon seeing her. Thereafter, she went out of traffic cameras' radar. Cops suspect she was picked up by the biker.
When morning walkers found her semi-naked body around 6.30am on Friday, she was in a hoodie, but with no bottom wear. The body had multiple injury marks. Cops suspect she was strangled. She may also have been drugged, police sources said.
The girl's mother confirmed the multiple bruises and scratch marks. "It looks like some evil person did something bad to her before killing her brutally," she said outside the morgue at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where the postmortem was being done. "She left home after a minor fight. I seek justice for my daughter and exemplary punishment for those responsible for her death," the mother said.
The girl's father is in Mumbai on work. The mother said her daughter, a Class 8 student, had fought with her eight-year-old sister over something minor, which escalated into a tiff, following which she left home around 10pm on Thursday.
She was not carrying a cellphone.
The girl's mother told cops that she thought her daughter would be back in a while. It was only after she did not return after an hour that she formed a search party with neighbours.
A missing person's diary was lodged with New Town police at 5.30am on Friday, following which cops began a search. Within an hour, they received a call about a body next to the canal, which turned out to be the girl's.
"We sent the body for postmortem after it was recovered," said Shri Mukesh, the Bidhannagar police commissioner. "A multi-pronged investigation is underway, and we hope to arrest the culprits soon."
The police said they were trying to track down the biker, who seemed to have struck up a conversation with the girl, going by the CCTV footage. "Her body was found quite a distance from her home. It is unlikely that she walked this far. It's likely someone was driven here," an investigating officer said.
The cops said the place where the body was found could be the scene of crime. The culprit possibly forcibly took the girl into the inadequately lit area behind the canal to rape and then kill her, they said.
Residents said the area was badly illuminated, and that the canal-side road attracts questionable characters, especially after sundown. "People drink and smoke ganja in the open here. Petty crimes are common here," said Samaresh Das, a resident.
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