Sandhya Mondal, the mother of Prabhash Mondal—one of the accused in the alleged rape and murder of a minor in West Bengal's Baruipur—has refused to claim her son's body after he was killed in a police encounter during a crime scene reconstruction on Tuesday night.
Police reached the family's home early Wednesday morning to inform them about Prabhash's death. They also asked Sandhya Mondal for her son's identity card and enquired whether she wanted to visit the hospital to identify or claim the body. She declined both requests.
"He got the result of what he did. It is good that this happened," Sandhya Mondal told reporters.
She added, "The police came and asked if Prabhash Mondal was my son. I said yes. Then they told me that my son had died and asked if I wanted to see him. I will not go to claim his body. I don't want to see him, and no one from the family will go to bring back his body."
According to police, Prabhash Mondal was killed during a reconstruction of the crime after he allegedly snatched a service weapon from a police personnel, attempted to flee, and opened fire. Police claimed they retaliated in self-defence, critically injuring him. He was taken to hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Prabhash was the first accused arrested in the case on Sunday. Based on his interrogation, police later arrested three more accused—Anand Sardar, Dibakar Sardar and Kabir Molla.
Speaking about her son, Sandhya Mondal said he had struggled with substance abuse and often ignored his family's advice.
"He never listened to us. He was addicted to drugs," she said.
The case relates to the alleged rape and murder of a minor girl from Baruipur's Suryapur area, who went missing on Saturday. Her body was recovered from a local pond the following day in a sack, triggering widespread outrage. Police have arrested four accused in connection with the case, and the investigation is ongoing.
