Protests Erupt In Kolkata After 7-Year-Old Girl's Murdered Corpse Found In Gunny Bag

On and around Bondel Road on Monday afternoon, groups of men set fire to police cars and threw rocks at passing vehicles in an attempt to gain control of a man who had been detained on suspicion of murdering and sexually abusing a seven-year-old girl. In the man's apartment on Sunday night, the child's body was reportedly discovered concealed in a gunny bag.

The protests caused a halt to train operations in the Sealdah suburban area. On the railroad lines between Park Circus and Ballygunge stations, the protesters camped out. The agitation, according to railway authorities, peaked between 2.30 and 4.30 pm. According to a railway employee, approximately 15 trains were delayed. Teams from the Government Railway Police, Railway Protection Force, Kolkata Police, and other agencies were sent in to help defuse the situation, the official said. The Bondel Road flyover, Picnic Garden Road, a portion of the EM Bypass, CN Roy Road, and places close to Park Circus all experienced traffic disruptions. "Four people have been detained on suspicion of arson, rioting, attack, and vandalism to public property. Raids are being conducted to find the other protesters", according to a south-east division officer. 

The mob originally demanded that the accused, Alok Kumar, be handed over, according to a different officer who was present at the scene during the protests. After the accused was brought into court and remanded in police detention, the number of protesters increased. When the police tried to stop them, they took to the streets close to Park Circus and began attacking them. Six police cars, including two motorcycles, were lit ablaze, according to a senior officer at Lalbazar.

Several police personnel sustained injuries. However, no one was seriously hurt, the cop reported. Several hours after the community was made aware of Alok Kumar's arrest on Monday morning, violence broke out on the streets close to the Bondel flyover. To maintain control, the police had to lathi-charge the demonstrators and discharge tear gas canisters. The young woman's corpse was discovered several hours after she was reported missing around noon on Sunday in a gunny bag inside Kumar's apartment in Kustia's Shri Dhar Roy road. 

The girl had been sexually assaulted, according to the police, before she was strangled. Police allegedly failed to promptly begin a search for the seven-year-old, according to the demonstrators. After the child's corpse was given to her parents following the post-mortem, protests also broke out.