Assuring the Madhyamgram gang rape victim’s family of justice, President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said accountability would be fixed for the heinous crime in West Bengal’s North Parganas district and the events that followed.

After the family called on the President here, the girl’s father told reporters that that he wanted nothing less than the death penalty for the accused, all six of whom have been arrested.

“The President heard them patiently, made queries and then told them he would do whatever needed to be done. He said he would recommend to the Home Ministry a thorough investigation,” Jagmati Sangwan of the All India Democratic Women’s Association, who, along with a delegation of women’s groups, accompanied the family, told The Hindu.

The 16-year-old girl, originally from Bihar and whose family had shifted to Kolkata for a better living, was gang-raped twice in October last and then kidnapped and set on fire when she lodged a complaint with the police. She died on December 31.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat, who was with the family, accused the West Bengal government of failing it. “It is the government of the State which has to have the first responsibility, but it is extremely unfortunate that in all their pain and distress, the family members did not get any help from the government,” she told reporters after the meeting.

Earlier in the day, National Commission for Women Chairperson Mamta Sharma said: “We have written to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanding that police officials who ill-treated the girl’s family be suspended and an inquiry be initiated against them.”

The NCW had also asked Ms. Banerjee to provide the family police protection and compensation, Ms. Sharma said after meeting the family members. An NCW delegation, along with representatives of some women’s outfits, would soon visit West Bengal to take cognisance of the situation there.

The family members submitted a memorandum to the NCW Chairperson demanding stern action against the perpetrators. “We have been denied justice by the West Bengal government which did not take immediate action against them,” the family said.

“Later the same miscreants, some of whom are known to be close to the ruling party in the State, abducted and burnt the girl alive, as punishment for having dared to lodge a complaint with the police,” her father said.

“The police, who were negligent in providing her security, … after her death, hijacked the body…and tried to cremate it. They exerted pressure on us but we did not yield, and on the morning of January 1, they were forced to hand over the body to us,” he said.

The family demanded an impartial inquiry against all persons involved in the crime, including policemen and health officers in the RG Kar Medical College Hospital, Kolkata.

The women’s groups which accompanied the family to its meeting with the President included the National Federation of Indian Women, the All India Women’s Conference, the Joint Women’s Programme, the Muslim Women’s Front, the Young Women’s Christian Association, the All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch, Jagori, the Guild of Services, and the Delhi Janwadi Mahila Sangh.