(MENAFN– IANS) Kolkata, Oct 31 (IANS) A youth has been arrested on charges of raping a deaf and mute woman in an abandoned building in Kultali in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district.

Even though the main accused in the case has been arrested, locals have been agitated claiming that a Trinamool local congress Panchayat head Prahlad Nashkar allegedly pressured the victim’s family members to settle the matter with Rs 2,00,000.

However, Nashkar denied the allegations, saying he was the first to reach the spot and informed the victim’s family members about the incident.

The victim’s family members filed a complaint on Wednesday evening. Later, the police started an investigation and, based on circumstantial evidence, the accused young man was arrested.

He will be produced in a South 24 Parganas district court only on Thursday and the prosecutor will seek his police custody, a district police official said.

In the first week of this month, part of Kultali and adjoining Jaynagar turned into virtual battlefields due to violent protests by locals over the rape and killing of a minor girl there.

At that time, the main accusation of the locals was against the police, and the latter ignored the missing complaint of the victim’s parents. Locals also claimed that if the police had been active in pursuing the minor victim, the heinous crime could have been avoided.

The protesters turned violent and attacked the police station. A local police camp was looted and set on fire. The police then had to resort to a massive lathi charge to disperse the mob.