Saturday, April 11, 2015

A dangerous silence in India’s north-east...

In early October 2014, the body of a young tribal girl was found facedown in Meghalaya’s East Garo Hills. Her body had been decapitated, charred, bruised and left naked in a densely forested area near Kisumgolgre village in the sprawling East Garo district. The girl, identified later by the police as Richina Sangma, was a 15-year-old Garo. She had been reported missing a few days earlier. Parts of her body that were severed and strewn in the jungle, when discovered, had already been partly eaten by wild animals.

India’s rugged north-east — which consists of the seven states of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and the Himalayan state of Sikkim — has seen a rise in crimes against women over the past decade. In 2014, the National Crime Records Bureau reported that six of the north-east states have witnessed an accelerated increase in crimes against women. These crimes ranged from rape and kidnapping through to dowry death and domestic cruelty.

Let us pay closer attention to the events at Williamnagar, the town that Sangma belonged to. The town is the district headquarters of the East Garo Hills in Meghalaya. According to reports, the teenager was lured by her stepfather (who allegedly claimed that he was taking the girl for a medical check up) and raped before she was killed. The girl’s mother had also reportedly complained to the police that her husband had been sexually assaulting the girl for over a year.

Williamnagar has witnessed many crimes against young women. In March 2013, another young girl from the town was lured into the jungle, and gang-raped by four men. In December 2012, a few days after the gruesome Delhi gang rape, an 18-year-old girl was raped by 16 men on the way home after attending the Simsang festival. Her private parts were mutilated after the brutal act. The police found that eight of the accused were juveniles. It took immense pressure from NGOs, human rights groups and the community to ensure that the accused were brought to justice. In the end, the government merely offered a compensation of 25,000 rupees to the family of the victim. The young girl’s mother helplessly asked the media: “What will I do with the money when I can no longer lead a normal life?” Full story...

Related posts:
  1. Indian athlete Debjani Bora beaten in 'witch hunt'
  2. Student from North-East molested in Delhi; her friends assaulted at court...
  3. India: 'Hate crimes' against students from north-east...
  4. A racist attack on a student has finally shone the light on India’s great divide...
  5. Thousands from India's north eastern states continue to flee Indian cities...
  6. Women from India's north-eastern states face racial slurs, abuse and harassment...

No comments:

Post a Comment