BALURGHAT, Dec. 7 -- The Balurghat District Court has sentenced three men to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of a young woman from Belghor in Kumarganj, South Dinajpur, in 2020.
The Additional District & Sessions Judge (Fast Court), Santosh Kumar Pathak, convicted the accused - Mahabur Rahman, Pankaj Barman and Gautam Barman - under Section 302 of the IPC, awarding life imprisonment with hard labour and a fine of Rs 10,000 each, with an additional three years' imprisonment in case of default.
The case dates back to January 2020, when the victim, a school student, stepped out to buy a bedsheet and went missing. Her charred body was later found in a nearby field. The family had alleged that she was gang-raped and murdered before her body was set ablaze. However, the rape charge could not be substantiated as most of the body, particularly the lower portion, was severely burnt.
Police arrested all three accused within 48 hours of the incident. Investigation revealed a disturbing pattern - Mahabur had allegedly been stalking the girl for long, pressuring her with a marriage proposal and even barging into her home to assault her.
With her mother and brother working at a jute mill, the victim was often alone, making her more vulnerable.
According to the prosecution, Mahabur lured the girl onto his motorcycle and along with Gautam and Pankaj, took her to a deserted spot near the culvert in Belghor. There, she was raped, murdered and her body set on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence. Gautam was the first to be arrested and his confession reportedly led to the breakthrough in the case.
Despite the conviction, the victim's family expressed dissatisfaction. "The way they ended her life. justice is incomplete without the death penalty," a family member said.
The case also highlights a broader trend in South Dinajpur's judicial landscape. Public Prosecutor Ritabrata Chakraborty stated that across the district's two courts - Balurghat and Buniadpur - a total of 285 convictions have been delivered in the last five years, of which 203 came from Balurghat alone. During this period, 10 cases resulted in life sentences, four in 20-year terms, five in 10-year terms and eight in seven-year terms, in addition to 176 other convictions.
Explaining the rise in conviction numbers, Chakraborty said: "This has been possible due to timely work by investigating officers, increased use of video conferencing in court and the cooperation of the Bar Association and the Superintendent of Police. These factors ensured that hearings in important cases were not delayed."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.