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10 hours ago

Indian police arrest dozens after violent protests over rape, murder of 11-year-old girl

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Indian police said on Friday they ​had arrested dozens of people for violence and vandalism during protests this week over ‌the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in an eastern state.

Police said one innocent person had been lynched by angry crowds. Protesters had blocked roads and torched vehicles since the girl's body was found in a pond on Sunday, ​a day after she went missing, in Baruipur city of West Bengal state about 30 ​km (20 miles) from Kolkata.

"We have arrested 35 people for violence and vandalism so ⁠far ... others involved are being identified through multiple videos that went viral," senior state police officer Arvind ​Kumar Anand told Reuters.

Separately, police said they had shot dead one of four men who had been ​arrested for the girl's rape and murder. The suspect, Prabhas Mondal, was shot in the early hours of Wednesday while attempting to escape, having been taken to the crime scene as part of the investigation, police said.

Mondal's mother refused ​to accept his body, saying she did not want to bring it home because he "did not do ​anything good".

"The sin committed by my son, he has received punishment for it," she said in a TV interview.

Indian ‌media ⁠quoted the family of one of the other suspects as saying he was innocent and had been arrested in a case of mistaken identity. There was no report of comment from the families of the other two suspects.

Suvendu Adhikari, who became West Bengal's chief minister after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata ​Party won state polls ​in May, said there ⁠would be "no leniency" for those committing crimes like rape and violence, or for those beating "innocent and blameless" people to death.

"This new government will pursue such criminals ​to the fullest extent of the law and ensure justice is served," ​he said on ⁠X on Thursday.

The case has again highlighted concerns about women's and girls' safety in India, despite tougher laws introduced after the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder of a 22-year-old woman led to nationwide demonstrations. Four ⁠men convicted ​of that killing were hanged.

 

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