Assam: Protest against kidnap and rape of minor girls in Kokrajhar

ABSU demands stringent punishment to culprits

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOKRAJHAR: A huge protest rally was organized by the Kokrajhar district committee, ABSU, to register protest against the kidnapping and gang rape of two minor girls in Thulsibil under Gossaigaon sub division in Kokrajhar by a group of youths on the night of August 23 last.

The rally started from Aminkhata LP School and moved forward to Thulsibil ME School and was taken part in by the leaders and activists of ABSU, Bodo National Students’ Union (BONSU), All Assam Tribal Students’ Union (AATSU), Kokrajhar District BJP, Bajrang Dal, students, local people, and others. The agitated activists shouted slogans against the repeated gang rape cases in Assam and subsequent failure of the district administration to take timely action and stringent punishments.

Talking to media persons, the president of the Kokrajhar district committee, ABSU Kripesh Daimary, strongly condemned the rape case in Thulsibil and said the kidnapping and gang rape cases had not come down in Assam, but similar cases are getting repeated in various corners of the state, which could be due to a lack of harsh punishments against rapists and murderers. He said two minor girls of class-IX students of Thulsibil were lured away by a group of youths with the sole intention of gang rape on the evening of August 23 last. Three of the eight accused youths have been arrested by the police, while the remaining are absconding. He said the ABSU will never sit silent over the repeated rape cases in the region and demanded that the government should institute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for fast and fair investigation into the incident and justice must be delivered for the victim minor students.

In an interview on the sidelines of the protest rally, the president of the AATSU, Hareswar Brahma, said the gang rape cases got repeating in the state, and girls belonging to the indigenous communities are being targeted for such cases by a section of people. This is happening due to the state government’s slackness to take harsh punishment for the rapists. He questioned whether the district administration exists to take precautionary measures and take stringent punishments against the rapists on time.

The vice president of the BONSU gave a 24-hour ultimatum to the district and police administration to arrest all the rapists, failing which they will take another option for louder and more rigorous agitation. He also said, “The rapists will come out of jail and will commit the same crime, and thus there must be a ‘hang to death’ initiative so that no one gets encouraged to rape our sisters in the near future.”

Meanwhile, the EM of BTC from BJP Reo Reoa Narzihary said the Thulsibil incident was widely condemnable because no one will encourage the gang rape of minor girls. He said the incident could have triggered communal clashes, and therefore, it is necessary to stay away from such crime. He also said the district administration should arrest all the culprits involved in the incident and give punishment according to the law.

The two minor girls of Thulsibil reading in class-IX belonging to a tribal community were taken away by a group of youths in two vehicles on the evening of August 23 last and allegedly gang raped. The two girls were admitted at RN Basumatary Civil Hospital, Gossaigaon, but one of them was referred to Kokrajhar RN Brahma Civil Hospital on Saturday. Three rapists identified as Jamal Khan (21) of Choutara, Seik Abdulla (29) of Harbhanga, and Nur Alom (25) of Joypur of Gossaigaon have been arrested by the police on Saturday, while the other five accused are absconding. Investigation and manhunt for other absconding rapists are on.

According to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Kokrajhar, there had been a gang of youths who had been involved in committing rape and other inhuman activities. Arrested Jamal Khan is reportedly head of this gang, and Seik Abdulla is also very active in this gang.

 Also read: Assam: AABYSF Sivasagar District Committee Condemns Dhing Rape Case (sentinelassam.com)

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