Youth sentenced to life imprisonment for rape and murder of minor girl in New Town

A court in West Bengal’s Barasat on Wednesday (August 27, 2025) sentenced an e-rickshaw driver to life imprisonment for rape and murder of a minor girl.

The crime took place on February 6, 2025, when the class VIII student had left her home after an argument with her family members.

Soumitra Roy, the e-rickshaw driver who promised to take the victim back home, took her to a remote place in the Lohapool area of Kolkata’s New Town and killed and raped her. The body of the 13-year-old girl was found on February 7 in an area in a plot owned by the West Bengal Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation.

The 22-year-old e-rickshaw driver was arrested on February 8 by Bidhannagar City Police and booked under provisions of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012) Act. The State counsel said that several evidence, including medical reports, digital, technical and biological evidence, were presented in the court which proved Soumitra Roy’s involvement in the rape and murder. Soumitra is said to be a resident of Nadia and was living on rent in the Adarsh Nagar area near New Town.

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The Barasat Special POCSO Court held the youth guilty on August 25. The Court on Wednesday also imposed a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh on the convict. The crime that came to fore months after the rape and murder of a doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital had raised questions on the safety of women in the State.

In more than half a dozen cases of sexual assault and murder of women, , the courts in West Bengal have awarded death sentences to the convicts. A court in Sealdah on January 20 had awarded life imprisonment to Sanjay Roy, convicted for raping and killing the doctor at R.G. Kar MCH on August 9, 2024.