Over ten persons, including three policemen of the police station in Singjamei in Imphal west, were injured on Friday during the clashes between police and agitating villagers under the Mayang Imphal police station. The villagers were protesting against the alleged gang rape of a minor girl. The 14-year-old died on Thursday afternoon, reportedly as a result of gang rape and strangulation. Villagers said that after committing the heinous crime, the culprits left, thinking she was dead.
Police fired tear gas canisters at the gathered mob. The agitating youths pelted stones and attacked policemen with slingshots.
The girl was lured out by one Maza Khan under the Mayang Imphal police station, assuring her that they would elope.
The disoriented was girl found abandoned by the roadside at dawn on Thursday and rushed to Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, where she was admitted to the ICU. However, she died on Thursday night.
Angry villagers tried to damage and burn down the houses of the youths they believed to be involved in the crime. However, personnel rushed from nearby police stations to intervene. The villagers pelted stones at the policemen, injuring three of them. The agitating villagers also refused to disperse, and the police fired several rounds of tear gas shells, injuring some of them.
Some members of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) formed by the villagers to demand justice for the dead girl reportedly came to an understanding with Chief Minister N. Biren, who also holds the Home portfolio. When it was announced in local media that the matter was brought under control after the JAC members reached an understanding, villagers grilled them about it. The JAC convener and joint convener announced on Friday that since the understanding was not to the liking of the people, it was rubbished, and that they had also resigned from the JAC.
Some agitating villagers said that since the culprits were not given swift punishment, the number of sex assault crimes were on the rise in Manipur. Several organisations condemned the gang-rape and murder of the minor.
On Friday evening, Director General of Police L. M. Khaute said that the main accused Maza Khan had been remanded to police custody for seven days, and the other accused would be arrested in a few hours.
Police said that the situation was tense but fully under control. Armed riot policemen and policewomen are patrolling the trouble-prone areas.
