Prabhas Mondal was killed in a police encounter. His wife (L) stated she believed he was capable of such a crime due to past abuse.KOLKATA: The wife of Prabhas Mondal, one of the main accused in the alleged gang rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in West Bengal’s Baruipur, has claimed she suffered abuse throughout their marriage.Champa Mondal, wife of accused Prabhas Mondal, said she was not surprised when his name surfaced in the case, news agency PTI reported.Speaking to reporters after learning that Mondal had been killed in an alleged police encounter on Wednesday, Champa said she could not say whether her husband was innocent but admitted she believed he was capable of committing such a crime.“I cannot say whether he committed this crime. After our marriage, I saw his behaviour. I have endured a lot of abuse while living with him. When his name surfaced in the case, I felt he was capable of doing something like this,” she said.Champa added that Prabhas had no regular occupation and mostly stayed at home.Her remarks came hours after Mondal, the first person arrested in the case, was killed during what police described as an encounter while reconstructing the crime scene.Encounter during crime scene reconstructionAccording to police, Mondal was taken to the Surjyapur area in South 24 Parganas district around 12. 45am on Wednesday to recreate the sequence of events as part of the investigation.Police alleged that during the exercise, he snatched a service pistol from a police personnel, fired a round at the security team and attempted to flee. Officers retaliated in self-defence, during which Mondal sustained bullet injuries. He later died.Mondal had emerged as one of the prime accused after CCTV footage allegedly captured him walking with the minor girl shortly before she went missing.Mother refuses to accept bodyHours after the encounter, Mondal’s mother refused to accept her son’s body from the hospital.She said she did not want the body because “he deserved it” if he had committed such a heinous crime.Her reaction came amid mounting public outrage over the killing of the 12-year-old, whose body was recovered from a pond in Surjyapur Haat.Girl was alive when thrown into pondThe case sparked widespread outrage after the post-mortem examination revealed that the victim had been gang-raped, brutally assaulted and was still alive when she was stuffed into a sack and thrown into a pond.The Class V student had left home on July 4 to buy a birthday gift but never returned. CCTV footage later showed her walking with one of the accused shortly before she disappeared.Her body was recovered the next day from the Surjyapur Haat area, triggering protests across Baruipur.Hours after the body was found, an angry mob lynched a local man on suspicion of involvement in the crime. Police later clarified that the man was innocent and have launched a separate investigation into the mob killing.The Baruipur case has triggered statewide outrage, with political leaders visiting the victim’s family and demanding the harshest punishment for those responsible.Police said the investigation is continuing and further evidence is being examined.(With agency inputs)