Body of woman exhumed, man arrested

The order for exhumation of the body came after the Block Development Officer of Dhaniakhali Biswanath Ghosh filed an FIR at the Gurap police station, police sources said.

The body was exhumed in the presence of Hooghly District Magistrate S Ranjarajan and Superintendent of Police Tanmoy Roychowdhury.

The sources said that the authorities of the home, Rehabilitation Centre for Mentally Ill persons (Women), claimed that the 32-year-old woman was killed when a ceiling fan fell on her head on July one.

After obtaining the death certificate the authorities buried the body as per the custom of the private home run by a person named by Uday Chand Kumar, they said.

Kumar was arrested, the sources said.

Villagers, however, alleged that there was foul play behind the death of the woman and informed the police, the sources said.

They asked that since the woman died an unnatural death why her body was not sent for a post mortem examination.

The villagers gheraoed the home during the day alleging that atrocities were being committed on women and girl inmates.

The SP said that an investigation would be made into the cause of death of the woman.

The woman, who hailed from Bankura district, was found by the police and left at the home on May 22. However, her name was not known. She was named Guria at the home.

State Women and Child Development minister Sabitri Mitra said in Kolkata that she had asked the Hooghly district magistrate to inquire into the incident.

Stating that her department was not informed of the incident by the home authorities, Mitra said that the state government would take strong action if necessary.

WBPCC President Pradip Bhattacharya said that a CID probe should be ordered if not a CBI inquiry into the incident.