The gang rape of a teenager followed by the abuse of a 30-year-old housewife and a seven-year-old child has trigged online protests across Tripura by students.
According to the FIR, the teenager had gone to meet a boy from Khashiamangal village of Khowai district but on her way back was raped in a car by a group of men who offered her a lift home.
In the second incident, a housewife from Karailongpara village filed a complaint of molestation and rape against a 21-year-old youth of the area. During investigation, the police found that a child in the same house had also been abused by the accused, who was soon arrested.
Asmira Debbarma, a post-graduate student of Political Science at Tripura University, started a social media agitation demanding capital punishment for all the accused persons.
The posts by her group are going viral across social media in the state
Underlining how one of the five rapists was still on the run, Debbarma said, “We demand the state government to deliver justice to the girl. Not only jail, we demand the death sentence. This case can’t run for 5-10 years. We want fast disposal of the case”.
Khowai Superintendent of Police Kiran Kumar said almost all the accused persons were arrested shortly after the complaints were received. Tripura Commission for Women Chairperson Barnali Goswami condemned all three incidents and said these were unacceptable. “We are confident the rest would also be arrested soon,” she said, adding that a section of people were playing ‘nasty politics’ over these crimes on women.
“TCW went to the spot and found some women workers of a political party there. Why can’t we come together as one in fight against crimes on women?” she added.
In 2010, 46.5 percent of all crimes registered in state were against women, then highest in the country as per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reports. Seven years later, the figures had come down significantly with the state ranking 14th in crimes against women in 2017.
