A GROUP of local residents staged a protest in Bareilly on Wednesday, demanding that murder charges be invoked against a 19-year-old youth. This comes days after the body of a teenaged girl, whom the youth had allegedly kidnapped last month, was found on a railway track in Howrah district of West Bengal. The youth, who surrendered to the Bareilly police last week, has denied all the allegations and claimed that the girl, with whom he had been in a relationship and willingly accompanied him, died when they both tried to end their lives by jumping off a train while returning to Bareilly, officers said. A team from the police station where the case was registered then travelled to Howrah to collect the medical and postmortem reports of the 14-year-old girl, officers said on Wednesday. “We will question the youth again and if needed, additional charges will be invoked,” said the station officer of the police station concerned. The youth and some of the girl's family members have accompanied the police team to Howrah. The youth and the victim were neighbours and belong to the same OBC community. “The girl's family members identified the body,” added the officer. On Wednesday, a group, including some of the girl's relatives, staged a protest at the collectorate gate demanding that murder charges be filed against the youth. They alleged that he (youth) killed the girl and dumped her body on the railway track to make it appear like an accident. The protest was called off only after officers assured them of stringent action in the case. The girl's family members also met senior police officers. According to the police, on June 28, the girl's father filed a complaint with the local police, alleging that a youth had kidnapped his minor daughter while she was on her way to a market. The father also named the youth's family members, including his parents and two brothers, alleging their involvement in the crime. After registering an FIR, the police launched an investigation to trace the youth and the girl. Initial investigations found that the youth and the girl had been in a relationship. On July 3, the youth voluntarily presented himself at the police station and, during questioning, denied the kidnapping charges, police said. He claimed that the girl had willingly accompanied him. The youth told the police that on June 28, he and the girl boarded a train and reached New Delhi. However, since neither had their Aadhaar cards with them, they were unable to find accommodation at any hotel or lodge. The youth claimed that he and the girl had broken their SIM cards after removing these from their cellphones The following day, they took another train and arrived in Howrah in search of work and stayed at a lodge. “The youth claimed that when they ran out of money, he asked the girl to return home. Initially, she refused but after persuasion, she agreed,” said the officer. He continued, “The youth claimed that on June 30, they boarded a train from Howrah, bound for Bareilly. During the journey, they decided to die by suicide rather than face harassment in their village. He claimed that they both jumped off the moving train that night,” said the police officer. “The youth told us that after some time, when he regained consciousness, he found himself lying near the railway track with injuries on his back. He also claimed that he did not see the girl. He said he then boarded another train and eventually reached Bareilly,” said the police officer. On the basis of information given by the youth, the Bareilly police reached out to their counterparts in Howrah. “The Howrah police informed us that on July 1, they found the body of a minor girl ” added the officer.
