A minor girl who had left home to attend a coaching class has been allegedly kidnapped and murdered in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, triggering massive protests. The body of the girl was found in a canal. Her family and villagers have alleged that she was raped before her body was thrown into the canal. 

Reportedly, the girl was returning home from her classes when she went missing. Her family approached the local police station to file a complaint, but alleged that instead of receiving assistance, they faced harassment from the police. 

After the girl’s body was found in the morning, the villagers gathered in large numbers, expressing their outrage over the incident. They accused the police of failing to take timely action, which they believe led to this tragic outcome. Later, the police arrested the accused, an 18-year-old youth.  

Reportedly, a 200 person-strong mob ransacked the Mahishmari police outpost and set it on fire. In an effort to bring the situation under control, a large contingent, including the Rapid Action Force (RAF) was deployed. Furthermore, the police had to resort to lathi charge and fire tear gas to disperse the mob. 

Superintendent of police of Baruipur police district told media that they received information around 9 pm on Friday and a case was registered. He added that the accused has been arrested and he has confessed to the crime. He asserted that when the police went to the village around 3:30am on Friday, villagers staged a protest.

Meanwhile, the BJP has claimed that it was a case of rape and murder and slammed the Trinamool Congress led government in the state. Union Minister and BJP State President Sukanta Majumdar claimed that the girl was raped, and called for Mamata Banerjee’s resignation. 

CM Mamata Banerjee and her government is already under fire over their alleged mishandling of rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in August.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday unveiled a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Kolhapur city of western Maharashtra. The Congress leader slammed BJP over the collapse of the statue of the warrior king at Rajkot Fort in Sindhudurg district more than a month ago and said the party’s ideology is not right.

Addressing a public meeting before unveiling the statue, Gandhi said there was no use of bowing before the Maratha icon after scaring people, destroying the Constitution and institutions in the country.

The Congress leader said, “BJP made a statue of Shivaji Maharaj, which broke and fell down within a few days. This was the message that if we make a statue of Shivaji Maharaj, then we will also have to protect his ideology. Because… BJP people fold their hands in front of Shivaji Maharaj’s statue but work against his ideology 24 hours a day.”

“The way Shivaji Maharaj lived his entire life and the things he fought for, we should also fight for those things,” he said.

His comments were apparently targeted at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had apologised to Shivaji Maharaj and those hurt by the collapse of his statue. “Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is not just a name or a king. For us, he is our deity. Today, I bow my head at his feet and apologise to my deity,” Modi had said on August 30 during his visit to Maharashtra.

The 35-foot statue, which fell on August 26, was unveiled by the PM on December 4, 2023, on the occasion of Navy Day. Gandhi said Chhatrapati Shivaji’s message to the world was that the country belongs to everyone.

“Shivaji Maharaj was an embodiment of courage, compassion and justice – Congress Party and INDIA are protecting the ideology of Shivaji Maharaj by following the path shown by him, because his thinking is embedded in the Constitution of India,” the Congress leader said in a post on X.

He said the BJP is trying to destroy the Constitution by standing against the same ideology. Gandhi added that due to such difference in intentions, even the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj made by him got broken and left him.

“I carry the thoughts of Shivaji Maharaj in my heart – I will continue to fight for the protection of the country’s constitution, institutions and the poor. Hail Bhavani, Hail Shivaji,” the former Congress chief said.

Farooq Abdullah, National Conference (NC) president on Saturday asserted that his party would not forge a post-election alliance with the BJP for government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.

The NC president said that they cannot go with the BJP because the vote which they have got is the vote against the BJP. He stated that BJP put the Muslims in difficulties, bulldozed their shops, houses, mosques and schools.

Farooq Abdullah further said that the BJP did not give mandate to even a single Muslim in the Parliamentary election nor is there a single Muslim minister in the Union Cabinet. He added that he thinks that the people of the Union Territory will not vote for the BJP, adding that if BJP think they will form the government, then they live in cuckoo’s world. The NC had on Friday clarified that it was not in touch with any political party other than INDIA bloc constituents for government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.

The party’s clarification followed amid speculation that it was engaged in backchannel deliberations with the BJP for government formation. When asked if Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid, who is on bail, was a factor in the assembly polls, Farooq Abdullah said he does not see any factor. The former Union Minister said that whoever stands with the BJP will be finished. 

Speaking about the chief minister candidate, the NC president said it will be decided after the results are announced. He stated that even if a political party has a full majority, they cannot say who is going to be what, what is going to happen. He added that they will wait till all the boxes are open and votes are counted. On the Haryana Assembly elections, Abdullah said the Congress will win with a majority there, adding that he has seen what people have suffered.