First Conviction in West Bengal 2021 Post-Poll Violence: Man Found Guilty of Raping Minor
A court found Rafikul Islam guilty of raping a nine-year-old girl in the evening of June 4, 2021, amid widespread violence following West Bengal Assembly elections.
A man was found guilty of raping a nine-year-old girl on Wednesday in what is the first conviction in the post-poll violence that rocked West Bengal after the 2021 Assembly elections.
After the elections, violence erupted in different parts of the state and a number of murder, rape and attempt to rape cases were reported, leading to several writ petitions in the Calcutta High Court. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was in charge of the investigation.
One case pertained to the rape of a nine-year-old girl in Malda district of West Bengal. As per the investigation by the CBI, the girl was raped by the accused identified as Rafikul Islam in the evening of June 4, 2021, while she was playing in the mango orchard of the accused, by alluring her with money.
The incident was witnessed by the victim's cousin, who was 10 years old at the time. As per the CBI, both the victim and the eyewitness gave strong and detailed testimonies about the crime before the trial court.
Based on the report of the Human Rights Commission as well as the arguments in court, a five-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court had earlier directed that the cases of murder and crimes against women, specially rape or attempt to rape, shall be referred to the CBI for investigation.
After a lengthy trial, the Additional District and Sessions Judge of the POCSO court in Malda on Wednesday (July 2) found the accused guilty of raping the minor girl below 12 years of age under relevant sections of the POCSO Act and the Indian Penal Code.
This was the first case of post-poll violence in West Bengal in which the trial was concluded and a conviction was made. A sentence for Rafikul Islam is likely to be pronounced on July 4, according to the CBI.
In a separate case, the CBI last week arrested the prime suspect in the murder of BJP activist Abhijit Sarkar during the Bengal post-poll violence. Arun Dey, known to be close to Trinamool Congress (TMC) had been absconding for four years since Sarkar was allegedly killed by a mob.
First Published:
July 02, 2025, 20:24 IST
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