Calcutta High Court Orders Second Post-Mortem in Bengal Schoolgirl Rape-Murder Case

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Sunday ordered that a second post-mortem be conducted on the schoolgirl who was allegedly gang-raped and murdered in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district.

The 10-year-old girl was returning to her Joynagar home after attending her tuition classes on Saturday when the incident occurred.

Justice Tirthankar Ghosh of the Calcutta High Court, hearing a petition filed by the girl's parents, mandated that the second post-mortem be conducted at AIIMS Hospital in Kalyani on Monday in the presence of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) of Baruipur court.

Justice Ghosh also instructed that police should register a case under the POCSO Act.

If AIIMS Kalyani lacks the required infrastructure to conduct the post-mortem, it should be carried out at Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Hospital, also located in Kalyani, the court said. However, the post-mortem must be done by doctors from Kalyani AIIMS, not those from the state-run hospital, it added.

The body of the schoolgirl is currently kept at Kantapukur morgue, where the first post-mortem was performed.

One person has been arrested in connection with the murder.

Meanwhile, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said that the police should register the Kultuli rape-murder case under the POCSO Act, and ensure culprits get capital punishment in 3 months. She also said that media trials in rape cases must stop, this could hamper investigations.