Robbers kill farmer, rape wife
- Peasant received letter asking him to pay Rs 10000, say police

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Policemen outside Krishna Chandra's home on Wednesday. Picture by Ananda Das

Polba (Hooghly), March 28: A Hooghly farmer was killed early today by six robbers who also raped his wife after locking his teenage son in an adjacent room.

Krishna Chandra Mal and his wife had accompanied their son to the bathroom in the courtyard around 1am when the robbers, lying in wait, pounced on them, police said.

District superintendent of police Tanmay Roy Chaudhuri said such robberies were not common in the area, "We are taking this case very seriously and our investigation is on," he said.

The body of Krishna Chandra has been sent for post-mortem. His wife underwent a medical test at Chinsurah Sadar Hospital today.

The couple's 15-year-old son said he and his parents had been stepping out together even to go to the bathroom ever since some persons damaged his father's tractor a fortnight ago and left a letter asking him to pay Rs 10,000.

"Immediately after we came out, six persons with faces smeared with red paint grabbed us and pushed us back into the house. Three of them were armed with daggers and one pressed the blade to my throat and told my parents they would kill me if they raised an alarm," the Class IX boy said.

The robbers then demanded the keys, he said. When Krishna Chandra hesitated, they picked up a stick from a room and started beating him up, forcing his wife to hand over the keys.

The robbers brought nylon ropes from the courtyard, tied their hands and feet, gagged them and made them sit in three separate rooms. "When they tied us with the nylon cords, they also blindfolded me," the boy said.

The gang then began searching the almirahs and looted about Rs 40,000 in cash and gold ornaments.

An officer at Polba police station said the robbers slit Krishna Chandra's throat before raping his wife. "His wife told us that when they were taking off her bangles, earrings and nose-ring, they taunted her about already becoming a widow," said the officer.

The woman's mother, who arrived from Balagarh in the same district after hearing the news, said: "After the robbers escaped around 2.30am, my daughter managed to untie her hands and freed her son. My grandson then called her uncle and his family members who stay in a separate building behind my daughter's house."

Atish Das, the officer-in-charge of Polba police station, said that about a fortnight ago, Krishna Chandra had lodged a complaint against unidentified persons saying they had cut open one of the tyres of his tractor.

"He had also complained that a letter had been left behind threatening him with dire consequences if he failed to pay them Rs 10,000. We could not progress much on the case as the complaint was against unknown persons," he said.

Preliminary investigations revealed the six had come in two motorcycles.

"Two fishermen who were going to a pond at 1.30am told us they spotted two motorcycles parked in the courtyard. But, they did not give any importance to it. Krishna Chandra's wife also heard motorcycles start and leave after the incident," a police officer said.

The police have seized a pair of sandals thought to have been left behind by one of the robbers.