R.G. Kar convict Sanjoy Roy’s kin booked for ‘murder’ of minor niece

In a case that has cast a long, unsettling shadow over south Kolkata’s Alipore, the mysterious death of an 11-year-old girl — niece of R.G. Kar case convict Sanjay Roy — has now taken a grim turn.

Police on Thursday confirmed that a murder case has been filed against the child’s father, Bhola Singh, and stepmother, Pooja Singh, following a complaint by the girl’s grandmother, Pratima Singh, a resident of Vidyasagar Colony.

According to police sources, the grieving grandmother, unable to reconcile with the sudden loss of her granddaughter, approached the Alipore Police Station to file a complaint accusing her own son and daughter-in-law of killing the minor. Residents of Vidyasagar Colony also submitted a separate written complaint echoing her allegations.

“The investigation is being carried out with utmost seriousness. All possible angles are being examined,” said a senior Kolkata Police officer.

The tragedy unfolded on 19 October, when the 11-year-old was found hanging inside a cupboard at her home on D.L. Khan Road in Vidyasagar Colony. She was rushed to SSKM Hospital, where she battled for her life overnight but succumbed to her injuries the next day.

Police learned that no family members were present at the time of the incident — Pooja Singh was reportedly out buying firecrackers when the girl was discovered.

The story, however, runs deeper. Investigators were told that the girl’s biological mother — Sanjay Roy’s sister — had taken her own life a few years ago. Following her death, the girl’s grandfather had remarried off another daughter, Pooja, to Bhola Singh, who became the girl’s stepmother.

Neighbours painted a troubling picture of the child’s home life, describing frequent domestic quarrels and claims of physical abuse. Pratima Singh alleged that her granddaughter would often sneak away to her home, weeping about being beaten by her father and stepmother. The elderly woman said the abuse worsened in the days before Kali Puja and Diwali, claiming Bhola had beaten the child with a belt.

While the preliminary post-mortem report points to suicide — citing marks of hanging consistent with self-inflicted asphyxiation — suspicions persist among neighbours and the grandmother, who insist the death was the result of prolonged torture and violence.

As investigators pore over the evidence and statements, the case has become one of haunting contradictions — between a post-mortem suggesting suicide and a community convinced of murder.

For now, the lanes of Vidyasagar Colony remain tense and heavy with speculation, as Kolkata Police probe the tragedy that has shattered a child’s fragile world and rekindled old wounds from the city’s most infamous criminal saga.

With IANS inputs