Baruipur protests after teen girl’s body found, mob lynches

Violent protests erupted in the Baruipur area of West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district on Sunday after the body of a young girl was discovered, leading to a fatal mob lynching and significant disruptions. The girl, whose age was reported as either 11 or 12, had been missing since Saturday afternoon after leaving home to buy a gift for a friend's birthday.

Her body was found stuffed inside a sack in the Surjyapur Haat locality on Sunday morning. Family members alleged she had been forcibly taken away by four individuals and that she was raped and murdered, though official confirmation of the cause of death and any assault is pending a postmortem examination at Baruipur Sub-Divisional Hospital.

Outraged locals took to the streets, blocking the Baruipur-Joynagar road for several hours and burning tires. Protesters also damaged police vehicles and hurled stones at officers, who responded with a lathi charge to control the crowd. The agitation extended to the Sealdah-Namkhana railway line, disrupting train services for over an hour.

During the unrest, a man accused by the mob of involvement in the girl's death was beaten to death. Police officials confirmed the lynching.