Keshpur (West Bengal): A 27-year-old youth accused of impregnating a 13-year-old-year girl and under the pressure of the mandarins of the panchayat arranged a kangaroo court was forced to marry her, came to know after five years through a DNA test that he is not the father of the child. Though the girl – now 18 years old and a distant relative of an influential Trinamool Congress leader - was arrested for implicating false rape charges on the youth a couple of days back but is now out on bail.
The youth who had run away from his home just after the marriage and had filed a case at Midnapore court alleged that as the girl’s family was backed by the ruling Trinamool Congress and had forced the police and the panchayat to give their judgement in their favour of the girl. The incident kicked off in 2017 when the girl, a resident of the Anandpur area of Keshpur in the Midnapore district in West Bengal who was 13 then, got pregnant.
The girl's family accused a 22-year-old neighbour of impregnating her with false promises of marriage. The youth immediately trashed all allegations, but the mandarins of the panchayat arranged a kangaroo court and the youth was forced to marry the girl then and there. The disdain within the youth reached a nadir for the man, who ran away from home for good and filed a suit in the Midnapore court implicating his minor wife and her family for framing him. The hearing of the case is still on, but the youth has been granted respite after the DNA test ordered by the court.
Following a court order of a DNA test of the mother (who is now 18) and the child, it was found that the youth is not the father of the child born out of wedlock. After this revelation, the court ordered the arrest of the woman and her mother. “I was not into any kind of relationship with this girl but they slapped false charges against me and forced me to marry the girl. Not only that when I went away from home and filed a case at Midnapore court the ruling Trinamool Congress hooligans backed by the alleged Trinamool Congress leader forced my uncle to stop farming. I had no money, no shelter and my family had no food. I didn’t know what to do,” the youth told Etv Bharat on condition of anonymity.
When asked about the whole incident, the Trinamool Congress, the then Trinamool Congress Block President and accused of implicating the youth, said, “The case came up to the Panchayat and they had taken the decision. I was not even present in the meeting and so how can I be responsible for all these things? This is a political conspiracy against me”.
But the court order didn't have much bearing on the local police who avoided the matter and never arrested the woman and her mother. Seeing no other option, the youth again knocked on the court's door to get the accused arrested. Also, the court asked the local police to find out the child's original father. According to a source, the 18-year-old woman was subsequently arrested but is at large currently on conditional bail.
The youth's lawyer, Shamik Banerjee, targeted the cops for botching up the investigation. "The DNA test proves that the young woman cheated on my client when she was still a minor. The police arrested her on the orders of the court. However, the court granted her conditional bail for several reasons. The police of Anandpur police station have made several mistakes.
That is why the real father of the girl child has not come forward yet. Moreover, on whose advice my client was framed in this way, it is still not clear. The truth will come out only after proper investigation of the incident," advocate Shamik Banerjee said. Falsely implicated five years ago, relieved now. The very story of a Midnapore youth will leave society red-faced. The youth from Keshpur had to carry a fake charge of rape for five years and had to bear the ignominy all through.
