In the recent past, the nation had witnessed a lot of mass protest over gruesome crimes mostly related to rape and murder, but it seems, a large part of India is still in the dark. Come to Manipur and the law changes. It was on June 5 last, that a 16 year old girl was gang raped and murdered by three people in Tamenglong district of Manipur, which also happens to be the home district of Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Gaikhangam.
But, what will shock you is that, though the matter came into light soon after the crime took place, till now no legal action has been initiated against the three accused. Instead, a traditional village court summoned the three accused and tried them on June 7. Interestingly, though the accused admitted to the crime, the local body, instead of initiating a legal action against them, asked them to pay a compensation of Rs. 15 lakhs to the victim’s family and let them go free. However, the fine charged by the traditional court has not yet been paid by the criminals. It has been learnt that no FIR has been lodged so far in this regard.
It has been alleged that, once the three accused satisfied their horrendous lust, the trio killed the innocent girl in they murdered her and impaled and iron rod into her private part. The dead body was later dragged to an abandoned house and was suspended from a beam.
Meanwhile, it has been alleged that despite being fully aware of the incident, the deputy chief minister, who is also the home minister of the State has not acted so far and has turned a blind eye into the matter. It needs to be mentioned here that, the body of victim had been buried without doing any autopsy, which is a mandatory procedure for such crime. Interestingly, though on two occasions, some local newspapers highlighted the incident, it has been alleged that police has refused to register a case against the accused.
The silence of the police and the home minister himself has not been explained so far. But, a question that has been making rounds in the minds of every concerned citizen of Manipur now is, if this is the state of the guards of law and lawmakers, how safe is this country?