Overview

• Police submitted the charge sheet within 10 days, and the Rampurhat Sub-Divisional Court fixed a date to frame charges on Friday.
• Manoj Kumar Pal, the school’s physical science teacher, is the lone accused, has reportedly confessed, and is in judicial custody.
• The 13-year-old disappeared on August 28, and decomposed remains were recovered on September 16 from a waterbody near a forest, with some parts still untraced despite sniffer-dog searches.
• Investigators say the absence of the lower body could hinder establishing rape in court, and recovery efforts continue under SP Amandeep’s supervision.
• Police allege Pal slit the girl’s throat, dismembered the body, cleaned the scene with chemicals, and tried to erase evidence, while political leaders visited the family and villagers assaulted the headmaster over alleged negligence.