Tension In Kolkata’s Bhowanipore After RG Kar Case Convict's 11-Year-Old Niece Found Dead
While initial reports suggest suicide, authorities are investigating possible foul play, awaiting detailed autopsy and forensic results.
Tension gripped Kolkata’s Bhowanipore neighbourhood on Tuesday after angry residents attacked the father and stepmother of an 11-year-old girl whose body was found partially hanging inside a cupboard at their home a day earlier.
The victim, identified as Suranjana Singh, was the niece of Sanjay Roy, the prime convict in the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder case. Roy is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of an on-duty doctor, police said.
According to investigators, the child’s father, Bhola Singh, and his second wife, Pooja, were allegedly attempting to flee their residence when neighbours confronted them. Accusing the couple of subjecting the child to physical and mental abuse, locals dragged them out of their home and beat them in a wave of public fury.
Eyewitnesses said the stepmother was pulled by her hair and assaulted, while the father was thrashed with shoes. Police soon arrived at the scene, rescued the couple from the mob, and escorted them to Alipore Police Station for their safety.
Authorities said Bhola Singh had earlier been married to Babita, the elder sister of Sanjay Roy, with whom he had Suranjana. After Babita died by suicide several years ago, Bhola married her younger sister, Pooja.
The horrific discovery was made when the stepmother returned home and found the girl hanging from a clothes hanger inside a wardrobe, with a piece of fabric tied around her neck. Suranjana, a Class 5 student, was rushed to SSKM Hospital, where doctors declared her dead on arrival.
Neighbours have alleged that the girl endured continuous abuse. “She was often thrown out of the house late at night, sometimes even at 2 am. The cruelty had left her deeply scarred,” one neighbour claimed.
The victim’s grandmother also levelled serious allegations, saying the child was routinely beaten with belts and that her head was often banged against walls for trivial reasons.
Overcome with grief, the father told reporters, “I have no child left. There is no meaning to my life anymore.”
Police have received a preliminary autopsy report but said it has not ruled out foul play. “Initial findings point to suicide, but we are not ruling out homicide,” a senior officer said. “We are awaiting the detailed post-mortem and forensic reports to determine the exact cause of death.”
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