Read about a shocking incident where a 14-year-old girl and her boyfriend allegedly killed her mother after discovering she was adopted. Find out more about the…

Girl who went to school after mom’s death, dad who kept quiet, boyfriend who helped in shradh

KOLKATA: The 14-year-old girl who, along with her 17-year old boyfriend, allegedly killed her mother in Behala on June 6, might have been triggered by the knowledge that she was adopted, which also sparked several behavioural changes in her, cops probing the murder said on Tuesday.

The two accused were produced before the juvenile justice board on Tuesday, which advised tests to gauge the boy’s IQ and maturity, to assess whether he could be treated as an adult. Charged with murder, criminal intimidation and common intent, they were sent to 14 days’ juvenile custody.

The cops said the girl found out only last year that she was adopted, after which people around her started to notice changes in behaviour. Her father said she found out in March 2023 from “someone in the neighbourhood”. Suddenly, the loving daughter changed, he said, adding, “She confronted us and then started misbehaving with us, especially her mother.” She started neglecting her studies and skipping school, spending long hours locked up in her room. There was also friction between her and her mother over the boyfriend, the father said. She had even fled with the boy to Digha after stealing Rs 50,000 from home. Neighbours, too, noticed this stark change.

Although police had said on Monday that the two teenagers had “confessed” to their crime, a senior officer said on Tuesday establishing murder in court would be challenging, as the prosecution only had circumstantial evidence. First, the body is not available, as the accused had reportedly cremated it; second, no postmortem was conducted, as the accused had allegedly obtained a “natural death” certificate from a doctor.

“We are collating as much circumstantial evidence as possible,” said a senior Kolkata Police officer. The cops are also trying to understand the behaviour of the girl’s father and her boyfriend. The boy helped the family arrange everything for the cremation and then even attended to guests during the shradh ceremony, all while staying unruffled.

The father not only kept quiet but carried on with life as usual — for almost two months — until Sunday. “We have put forward how the two had planned the murder like professional criminals and had shown mature behaviour after committing the heinous crime to conceal the murder and pass it on as a natural death, even cremating the body.

Hearing our argument, the juvenile justice board has decided to test the 17-year-old boy’s IQ and maturity level to determine whether he can be treated as a major,” said public prosecutor Soma Biswas. The father’s case is also baffling, say cops, who wondered how a person, whose wife was murdered next to him on the same bed, could stay mum for 52 days. “The man says he had stayed quiet as he was scared. But we are not giving him a clean chit,” said another officer.