A videograph of the whole incident was later circulated among the local population. But the incident came to light on August 8, when a private television channel got hold of the footage and aired it. A furore began and the police sprang into action, arresting six persons.

The team of the commission headed by chairperson Malini Bhattacharya, which visited the villlage on August 17, sent its report to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

Among other things, the report recommended an inquiry into the role of the district police, mentioning that the “incident took place three months ago and came into light when a private TV channel aired the footage on August 8.”

An inquiry should be conducted on how a videograph was taken during the incident, it said. “The person who took the video footage should be traced and inquiries should be made on how it was circulated.”

The commission also recommended the rehabilitation of the girl, who is now lodged at a home in Rampurhat. The report recommended she be allowed to meet her family.

The girl was punished since she was having an affair with a boy from another community, who was working at a stone crushing unit near her village. A tussle between tribals and the stone quarry had been on since February. The Commission recommended that it be probed whether the incident was linked with the tussle.

Rabin Saren, general secretary of the Birbhum Adivasi Gaota (an apex tribal body) had alleged that the owners of a stone-crushing unit in the area had circulated the video footage to malign the tribal society as a whole.

The girl had identified 12 people, of whom six were arrested. The commission also recommended that the stone quarry units and the crushing units be run in a legal way and minor girls not be allowed to work in those units. Schools should be opened in the villages for the minors.