Maharaj of Ramkrishna Mission arrested for alleged rape of teenage girl student

Police have arrested a maharaj of Bankura Ramakrishna Math and Mission on charges of raping a class IX girl student on the Mission campus at Ashrampara in Bankura town.

The accused, Snehasish maharaj, was arrested by police from Memari in Burdwan last night after he fled there to escape the wrath of the family members and neighbours of the victim girl.

In the FIR lodged at Bankura Sadar police station, the girl’s father has complained that Snehasish maharaj, who has been the in-charge of the library at Bankura Ramakrishna Mission, raped his daughter when she used to go there to attend coaching class and access the library.

It has been alleged in the complaint that maharaj raped the class IX girl repeatedly for the past one month and captured her nude photo and video on his mobile phone. He also threatened the girl not to tell about their physical relationship to anyone, else he would disseminate the video and photographs.

Fearing this, the 15-year-old kept mum and did not reveal anything even to her mother. But recently her mother somehow sensed that there was something wrong with her daughter and began to quiz her leading to the revelation of what she could not even imagined in her nightmare.

Subsequently, her father informed about this to his relatives and neighbours who went to the Bankura Ramakrishna in groups yesterday. But by then, the accused maharaj had fled. The father then lodged the FIR and police arrested him last night from Memari in Burdwan.

The accused was produced before the Bankura district court today and the judge sent him to judicial custody until 02 November. The victim girl has been referred to a medical examination.

Junaid Ahmed, 12-Year-Old Dies In Pellet Firing. Junaid was killed inside his house: Family

Indian media reported:

A 12-year-old boy was killed after security forces fired pellet guns at protesters in Srinagar on Friday evening, sparking widespread anger in the city and prompting authorities to impose a curfew.

Junaid Ahmad, a resident of Saidpora in downtown Srinagar, was critically injured after being hit by a shower of pellets outside his home. Police said security forces fired pellet guns after clashes in the area. Junaid, however, was not part of the protests, police sources said.

“He was standing at the main gate of his home in the Saidpora area in downtown area of city when he was hit by a volley of pellets,” said an official who did not want to be named.

Junaid was critically injured as dozens of pellets hit his head and chest. Locals shifted him to Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences where he died.

However, family members Junaid Ahmad on Saturday said that he was killed inside his house. They alleged that government forces barged into their residential house and fired pellets on him.

A family member told KNS that Junaid was at home when forces barged into their house and showered pellets on him.

“He was not out to fetch toffee from (army) camp or to fetch milk from police station,” she said while ridiculing the similar statement of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.

The family members demanded action against the forces personnel involved in the “killing of their beloved.”

The ruling PDP has called the death “unwarranted” and demanded a probe.

“We want immediate probe into the killing of Junaid and responsibly should be fixed. Junaid was not part of any protest when he was fired upon,” PDP General Secretary Nizamudin Bhat said.

However, the opposition National Conference has said the government is responsible for killings and blinding people in Kashmir.

Hundreds of people took to the streets in protest against his death after his body was brought to his home, shouting slogans against the government.

Security forces fired teargas shells as people marched with Junaid’s body towards a burial ground near the city’s Eidgah – a large ground for prayers during Eid.

Locals say as the funeral procession started, security forces tried to stop it. This led to further clashes and several people have been injured in teargas shelling and pellet firing.

As soon as Junaid was laid to rest at martyrs’ graveyard in Eidgah, the family members, relatives and neighbours, mostly women took to streets and raised anti-India and pro-freedom slogans.