Bengal’s Nadia Rape Case: TMC Leader, Father of Main Accused, Arrested by CBI

Samarendra Goala, father of the main accused in the case Brajgopal Goala, has been arrested by the CBI.

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has made two more arrests in the Nadia rape case. One of them is a gram panchayat member of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Samarendra Goala, and the other is a close associate of the leader, Pijush Bhakta.

Samarendra's son, Brajgopal Goala, 21, is the main accused in the case. He was earlier arrested by the West Bengal Police.

The Calcutta High Court on 12 April had ordered the CBI to investigate the alleged rape and murder of a minor girl in West Bengal's Hanskhali village.

This was the sixth case transferred to the CBI in less than three weeks in West Bengal.

The Case

Brajgopal Goala was charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on 10 April for the alleged rape of the minor at a birthday party in Hanskhali.

The bereaved parents of the 14-year-old had filed a complaint on 9 April, four days after the purported incident occurred. The complaint mentioned that the minor went to Goala's house for a birthday party, returned home unwell, and died soon after that.

"Our daughter was bleeding profusely and had severe abdominal pain after she came back from the party at the residence of the local TMC leader's son, and before we could take her to hospital, she died," the complaint stated.

The family had also alleged that the minor's body was forcibly taken for cremation even before the death certificate could be issued.

(With inputs from India Today).