Kolkata, Oct 31 || A youth was arrested on the charges of raping a deaf and mute woman at a deserted building in Kultali in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
Even as the main accused in the case has been arrested, the local people had been agitating claiming that a local Trinamool Congress panchayat chief Prahlad Nashkar allegedly pressurised family members of the victim to settle the matter against Rs 2,00,000.
However, Nashkar has denied the allegations, saying he was the first to reach the spot and inform the family members of the victim about the incident.
The victim's family members filed a complaint on Wednesday evening. Thereafter, the police started an investigation and based on circumstantial evidence, the accused youth was arrested.
He will be presented at a district court in South 24 Parganas on Thursday only and the public prosecutor will seek his police custody, a district police official said.
In the first week of this month, part of Kultali and adjacent Jaynagar turned into virtual battlefields over violent protests by the local people over the rape and murder of a minor girl there.