The Calcutta High Court held a special hearing on Sunday regarding the alleged rape and murder of a minor girl in Jaynagar, South 24 Parganas district. The court directed that the autopsy be conducted at a Central-run hospital in the presence of a judicial magistrate.
Justice Tirthankar Ghosh presided over the emergency session following instructions from Chief Justice T. S. Sivagnanam. He ordered that the judicial inquest take place at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Kalyani, in Nadia district. Should AIIMS Kalyani lack the necessary facilities, the autopsy will be carried out at the state-run College of Medicine and JNM Hospital, also in the same district. However, if this occurs, a forensic medicine expert from AIIMS Kalyani must oversee the procedure, and no personnel from JNM will be allowed to attend.
Furthermore, Justice Ghosh mandated that the entire autopsy process be video recorded. He instructed that the victim’s parents should be allowed to wait outside the autopsy room and, if they wish, receive a copy of the recording.
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In related developments, state BJP Secretary Priyanka Tibrewal reached out to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). In a letter addressed to NCPCR Chairperson Priyank Kanoongo, she urged for urgent intervention in the case.
“I earnestly beseech the NCPCR to act with utmost urgency. The protection and rights of our children must remain a priority. Your intervention is crucial to affirm that such heinous acts will not be tolerated and that justice will be vigorously pursued,” Tibrewal wrote.
Additionally, she emphasized the need for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to ensure a thorough and impartial inquiry into this serious crime. “Such intervention is essential to uphold the sanctity of the legal process and restore public confidence in the administration of justice,” she stated, underscoring the importance of conducting the investigation free from local biases or undue influence.
