West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday (July 7, 2026) visited Baruipur in the State’s South 24 Parganas district and met the family members of a 12-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted and killed, while giving a 72-hour- ultimatum to the police administration to investigate if there has been any laxity on the part of the local police.

“I have conducted a primary analysis. I asked the DGP to submit a report within 72 hours. We will take strict action accordingly. If there is any negligence in the time taken after the complaint was lodged, even if it is 1%, action will be taken,” Mr. Adhikari told media persons at Baruipur.

While expressing satisfaction that the family members of the victim have put faith in his government, the Chief Minister said that action will be taken against around 200 identified people who allegedly vandalised public property, damaged police vehicles and railway tracks during the protest that followed the recovery of the body of the girl.

The family members of the victim demanded that a police outpost be set up near their residence, to which the Chief Minister agreed.

According to the police, three persons have been arrested and booked under Section 63 (rape), 70 (2) (gangrape), 103 (1) (murder), and 238 (deliberately tampering with evidence) of BNS and the necessary sections of POCSO. Those arrested are identified as Anand Sardar, Prabhas Mandal and Dibakar Sardar.

The Chief Minister said that the missing complaint was lodged at 11.50 p.m. on Saturday (July 4, 2026), hours after she went missing. The body was recovered on Sunday afternoon. Violence had erupted after the body was recovered from a pond, and a mob attacked police and blocked roads and railway tracks.

After the girl’s body was recovered, a young man named Indranath Tanti was beaten to death by a mob. Chief Minister said on Tuesday (July 7, 2026) that the person who was lynched by the mob was innocent. “Police told me that the man who was lynched was innocent,” Mr. Adhikari said. The Chief Minister had said that there were attempts to give a communal angle to the rape and murder. Later in the day, the Chief Minister met the police personnel who were injured in the violence.

Local MP Saayoni Ghosh, who recently defected from the Trinamool Congress to the National Citizens Party of India, also visited Baruipur and tried to meet the victim’s family members.

Initially, she found the door shut and later was allowed to meet the family members. Locals raised slogans calling her a “traitor” and asked why she was visiting the place three days after the incident.

MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar also visited Baruipur. Leaders from the Ritabrata faction of the Trinamool Congress also visited Baruipur and met family members of the victim. West Bengal Minister Agnimitra Pal and Sonarpur Dakshin BJP MLA Roopa Ganguly were also among the leaders who visited Baruipur and met the family members of the victim.

Locals lynch a man suspecting he is an associate of accused; police say one person has been arrested

The mutilated body of a 12-year-old minor girl in South 24 Parganas’s Baruipur was recovered from a pond on Sunday (July 5, 2026), with her family members alleging she was raped and murdered.

The incident sparked a protest in the area as the angry mob beat a 40-year-old man to death, suspecting he was an associate of the accused.

According to officials, the victim’s parents in Baruipur’s Suryapur village lodged a First Information Report (FIR) after she went missing on Saturday night (July 4, 2026).

“She went to visit a friend in the evening but never returned home. Later, on Sunday morning, her mutilated body was recovered from a pond. Following the development, her family members and the locals alleged she was raped and murdered by some influential people in the area. However, the fact is yet to be ascertained,” said an officer from the Baruipur police station. 

The girl’s family members, along with some locals, staged a protest demanding immediate action against the accused. They blocked a nearby train line on the Sealdah-Namkhana route for an hour. They staged a sit-in protest with the girl’s body, disrupting road traffic for over three to four hours, officials said. The protesters burnt tyres.

Senior officials, including Inspector General of the Presidency Range, Kankar Prasad Barui, reached the spot and spoke to the protesters, following which they ended the dharna and handed over the body to the police for an autopsy. 

Mr. Barui said Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari spoke to him, and the police had arrested one person. “Nobody who committed this crime will be spared. A thorough investigation is being conducted. Everybody is requested to maintain peace,” he said.

After meeting the senior officials, the victim’s father said, “The Chief Minister called and asked me to meet him on Tuesday. We will go and meet him. He said no stone will be left unturned to punish the perpetrators.”

The safety of women has been a major priority of the BJP government. During the recent Assembly election, the party cornered the previous Trinamool Congress government over the various cases of sexual assaults.

Taking to X, the Trinamool Congress wrote, “Crimes against women continue to rise in Bengal, while BJP’s false promises fall flat yet again. A 12-year-old girl was raped in South 24 Parganas. Protests? None. Justice? Still awaited. Accountability? Missing. When it comes to making hollow promises to grab power, the BJP is always vocal. But when it comes to standing up for women and ensuring justice, the silence is deafening. Who cares about women’s safety and security once power has already been seized?”