Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
Credit: PTI Photo
Patna: The opposition BJP in Bihar on Thursday gave 24-hour ultimatum to the Nitish Kumar government to arrest the absconding culprits in the case of gangrape of two Mahadalit minor girls, one of whom was found dead.
Bihar BJP president Samrat Choudhary, who met the victims' families at Phulwari Sharif area in the outskirts of Patna city on Thursday threatened to launch an agitation if the culprits are not apprehended by Friday.
The two girls were allegedly kidnapped and gangraped in Phulwari Sharif area on Monday. While one of the girls was found dead. while the other sustained serious injuries and is battling for her life at AIIMS, Patna.
The police are yet to make any arrest in the case till Thursday.
Angry locals blocked the Patna-Ara stretch of the national highway for more than six hours in protest on Wednesday.
According to the police and locals, the two girls had gone to collect firewood on Monday but did not return till late night. On Tuesday morning the body of the eight-year-old girl was found in a field at Hinduni village. The other girl lay unconscious nearby.
A senior police official said an FIR was lodged against the unidentified accused under sections of the IPC and POCSO Act based on the statement of the dead girl's mother.
Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Rajeev Mishra told PTI on Thursday said the condition of the victim being treated at the AIIMS hospital has improved. investigators are collecting crucial scientific and forensic evidences to nail the accused. 'We will soon record her statement after the doctors treating her give us the permission.We will also send certain evidences collected during the course of investigation for DNA sampling, which may be crucial in identifying the accused.
Meanwhile, The Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) Liberation, which supports the Nitish Kumar government from outside, said in a statement on Thursday that a team of MLAs of the party will visit the site of the incident on Friday and meet the family members of the victims and villagers. It will demonstrate in front of the office of the district magistrate of Patna demanding the arrest of those responsible for the heinous crime.