Three held in Bengal gang-rape case, headman's role being probed

Three people - two of them minors - have been taken into custody for their alleged involvement in the gang-rape of a girl in West Bengal's Birbhum district, with police reportedly looking into the role played by a kangaroo court led by a tribal headman to hush up the incident.

All three were picked up late Sunday by police probing the assault on a class 6 student at a village under Mohmmad Bazar police station last week.

"Two of those held are minors," said a police officer.

The duo were presented Monday before a Juvenile Justice Board, which remanded them to a juvenile home in neighbouring Murshidabad district till June 13.

The victim was allegedly dragged to a deserted area and raped by three boys when she was playing in the village field.

Describing the incident as "unfortunate", Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters that police had initiated the necessary steps.

Following reports that a tribal headman had convened a kangaroo court and asked the father of the victim to settle the issue by accepting a token fine imposed on the accused, police are now looking for the headman who is still untraced.

The girl's father had ignored the headman and registered a police complaint.

In January, a 20-year-old tribal woman was violated by several men allegedly at the behest of a kangaroo court in a Birbhum district village for falling in love with a man from a different community.