Dumka murder: NCPCR chief says hands of foreign elements may not be denied

The team led by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights President, Priyank Kanoongo first came to meet the victim's family from the petrol incident and inquired about the incident. After that reached the village of Ranishwar where the minor tribal girl was killed and hanged on the tree, but was not able to meet the victim's family there and to which he expressed his displeasure.

Dumka(Jharkhand): The team of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights reached Dumka on Monday to investigate the case of violence against minor girls in recent days. Team President, Priyank Kanoongo has expressed dissatisfaction with the investigation done by the police so far.

Kanoongo who, along with an NCPCR team, came to probe the unnatural deaths of two teenage girls in Dumka, alleged that the state government was "trying to obstruct investigations" into the case of the second minor who was allegedly raped on the pretext of marriage and hanged from a tree.

"The hands of elements operating from outside the country may not be ruled out in the Dumka case, given the posts on social media after the death of the child, Kanoongo told reporters, without elaborating, after visiting the family of the girl who died of burn injuries.

I feel the local police are not capable of probing this (social media posts) and will recommend a probe by a high-level agency," he said. Kanoongo said that the NCPCR team came to know from the victim's family that the police neither recorded statements of all family members, nor had they collected information about the social media account of the deceased.

"There are flaws in the investigation. The police have no information on the root of the accused. We have asked the police about this," he said. The main accused, identified as Shahrukh, on August 23 allegedly poured petrol on the girl from outside the window of her room when she was sleeping and set her on fire. The teenager, who had spurned his advances, succumbed to her injuries on August 28. Shahrukh and the man who had supplied petrol to him were arrested.

The team led by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights President, Priyank Kanoongo first came to meet the victim's family from the petrol incident and inquired about the incident. After that reached the village of Ranishwar where the minor tribal girl was killed and hanged on the tree, but was not able to meet the victim's family there and to which he expressed his displeasure.

After returning from there, he also took information about the incident from the officials on the premises. President Priyank Kanungo said that the district administration is proving incompetent in investigating both cases, so will recommend a high-level inquiry into both cases. (With Agency Inputs)