KOLKATA: Three persons, including a ruling Trinamool Congress leader and his son, were sentenced to life imprisonment after they were found guilty in the gang rape and death of a schoolgirl in Hanshkhali of Nadia district in West Bengal.

The incident took place in April 2022, prompting Opposition parties like the BJP, CPI-M and Congress to intensify protests against the ruling party in the State, demanding Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s resignation.

The nine convicted in the case are Trinamool leader Samarendra Gayali, his son Brajagopal aka Sohail and seven others — Prabhakar Samaddar, Ranjit Mullick, Surajit Roy, Akash Baroi, Dipta Gayali, Pijush Kanti Bhakta, and Anshuman Bagchi.

The court, today, pronounced the sentence giving Sohail, Prabhakar and Ranjit imprisonment till death, while Samarendra, Dipta and another were sentenced for five years’ jail each.

One of the nine convicted is a minor boy who has been granted conditional bail for now. The court will makdecide him after a year.