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Indian police on Friday arrested dozens of people on charges of violence and vandalism during protests that erupted this week after an 11-year-old girl was raped and killed in an eastern state.

Police said an innocent person was killed by angry mobs.

Protesters blocked roads and burned vehicles since the girl's body was found in a pond on Sunday, after she went missing on Saturday, in the city of Baruipur in West Bengal state, about 30 kilometers from Kolkata.

Arvind Kumar Anand, a senior police officer of the state, told Reuters, "We have arrested 35 people so far on charges of violence and vandalism... The identity of other involved persons is being determined through multiple videos that have gone viral."

On the other hand, police said they shot dead one of four men arrested for raping and killing the girl. Police explained that the suspect, identified as Prabas Mondal, was shot in the early hours of Wednesday while trying to escape, after being taken to the crime scene as part of the investigation.

This case has once again highlighted concerns about the safety of women and girls in India, despite strict laws enacted after the gang rape and murder of a 22-year-old woman in New Delhi in 2012, which led to nationwide protests. Four men convicted of that crime were executed.

West Bengal state came under intense global scrutiny in 2024 after the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata sparked nationwide protests over women's safety.

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