Hanskhali Gang-Rape And Murder: TMC Leader Gets 5-Year Jail Term, His Son Sentenced To Life
In this case, the main accused, Braj Gayali, Ranjit Mallick, and Prabhakar Poddar, have been sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 376 (DA).
Published : December 24, 2025 at 12:01 AM IST
Ranaghat: A court has sentenced three people, including the son of a Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader, to life imprisonment in the gang-rape and murder case of a minor girl in Hanskhali in 2022. The accused TMC leader, Samarendra Gayali, has been sentenced to five years in jail.
Nine people were convicted on Monday, December 22. The Ranaghat Sub-Divisional Court announced the sentences for all of them on Tuesday. In this case, the main accused, Braj Gayali, Ranjit Mallick, and Prabhakar Poddar, have been sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 376 (DA) for gang rape.
They have also been sentenced to 20 years under Section 6 of the POCSO Act, 7 years under Section 506, and 3 years under Section 201. The three convicts have also been fined under various other sections.
The remaining three convicts, Samarendra Gayali, Dipto Gayali, and Piyush Bhakta, have been sentenced to five years under Section 506 and three years under Section 201. Surajit Roy and Akash Barui, due to their young age, have been released on their own bail bonds (of Rs. 50,000) for one year.
If their conduct is good during this year, they will be released; otherwise, this judgment may be overturned. Another accused, Anshuman Bagchi, has been sentenced to three years under Section 201 and three years under Section 102(B).
After the court's verdict was announced on Tuesday afternoon, the defence lawyer, Raja Bandyopadhyay, told the media, "The CBI did not conduct a proper investigation into this case. The state police settled this case with the testimony of 28 witnesses. The accused did not receive proper justice in today's court verdict. We will go to the Calcutta High Court in the future to seek proper justice."
Incidentally, on April 4, 2022, a minor girl was allegedly gang-raped and murdered in the Hanskhali police station area of Nadia district. The girl's family alleged that the 14-year-old girl was called to the house of a Trinamool Gram Panchayat member under the pretext of a birthday party, where she was given alcohol and then gang-raped. She later died due to excessive bleeding. However, it is alleged that after her death, the minor girl was hastily cremated in a village crematorium without any doctor's certificate.
Four days after the incident, the girl's mother filed a written complaint at the police station. At that time, several people, including Braj, the son of Samarendra Gayali, a Trinamool member of the Hanskhali Gram Panchayat, were named in the complaint. Initially, the state police started investigating the incident. Later, on April 14, the investigation was handed over to the CBI following an order from the Calcutta High Court. The CBI submitted a 209-page charge sheet to the court within 85 days.
After a long investigation and trial process, three years, eight months, and nine days later, on December 22, the Ranaghat Sub-Divisional Court convicted nine people. On Tuesday, the judge announced the sentences for the convicts.
Read more
