Kolkata, 8 July

The mother of an accused in the Baruipur rape-murder case, who was killed in an alleged police encounter, on Wednesday refused to claim the body of her son, asserting that he had met the consequences of his actions.

The accused's mother, Sandhya Mondal, said she had no regret over her son's death in the alleged exchange of fire and would not even go to see his body at a hospital.

Prabhas Mondal, one of the prime accused in the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in West Bengal's Baruipur, was killed in the alleged encounter earlier in the day after he "snatched a firearm from a policeman and tried to escape from custody" during a crime scene reconstruction exercise, a senior officer said.

"The little girl died after suffering from immense pain. My son got what he deserved for what he did," Sadhya Mondal told reporters after the police informed her of Prabhas' death.

She said police personnel came to her house, confirmed her son's identity and informed her that his body was lying at the Baruipur Sub-Divisional Hospital.

"They asked whether I wanted to see him. I don't want to see his face. I will not go to claim the body, and nobody from the family will either," the mother said.

Soon after Prabhas' arrest in the rape-murder case, Sandhya Mondal had publicly said that her son should be punished if found guilty.

The mother of the accused also alleged that her son had long been addicted to intoxicants and never listened to her advice.

The encounter -- the first such police action since the BJP government assumed office in the state in May -- came amid mounting public outrage over the crime, which had sparked violent protests and put the police under intense pressure.

According to a senior police officer, Prabhas Mondal was taken to Surjyapur in South 24 Parganas district around 12.45 am as investigators attempted to reconstruct the sequence of events after alleging that he had been misleading the probe and giving contradictory statements.

"During the exercise, he suddenly snatched a service firearm from a policeman and attempted to escape. He also fired one round at the police team. The police retaliated in self-defence, in which he sustained bullet injuries," the officer said.

The accused was taken to the Baruipur Sub-Divisional Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

The body of the girl, who had gone missing on July 4, was recovered from a pond in the Surjyapur Haat area the next day. It was alleged that she was raped and murdered before her body was dumped in a sack.