Five accused held, swift action : Bouquets, but this is just the beginning
- Sangai Express Editorial :: October 29 , 2013 -
The State police never ceases to surprise us. Even as posers were raised over the wisdom of cracking down on girl students outside Cheirap Court on October 26, came the news that five accused in the murder of excavator driver, Maisnam Devraj have been pulled up.
The recent rap on the knuckles from the National Human Rights Commission, asking the State Government to compensate families in six cases of police action, adds to the 'surprise' part.
Another face of the police, a pleasant one at that, emerging ?
The speed with which the police rounded up the suspects or accused is laudatory.
Went missing on October 14 and the body recovered on October 26 followed by the netting of five accused, four of them from a family and surely bouquets should be in line for the police personnel involved in investigating the case.
A rarity in this part of the world, where crimes go unsolved or are relegated to the back burners.
Remember the case of Lungnila Elizabeth dating back to 2003 and Hriini Hubert and Muheni Martin in 2005.
The final word is of course yet to be said, for the five are still accused, awaiting trial and it is not for the police or the public to say whether they are guilty as charged or not.
That is the job of the Court, the Judiciary, an important point which people conveniently keep forgetting, either out of ignorance or indifference.
This is where the need for the police to build a strong case becomes imperative.
Parading accused before media persons and profiling their antecedents is definitely good press, but this is just the beginning.
The real test will come when the case goes to Court.
This point is made not without basis, for Manipur has seen a number of cases going down the drain due to the sheer inability to come up with water tight cases against the accused.
The speed in which the rape case of the U Morok trader was taken up is the exception so far and here is the perfect opportunity to go one up and win the trust and confidence of the public.
Another refreshing change was to see the manner in which the information of the breakthrough in the case was broadcast. No hypes, no going over the board.
Yet, as noted earlier, the case is far from over. A point which the police should keep in mind, or else it may well end up as a case of starting with a bang and ending with a whimper.
This is about the case and the police but yet unfailingly the common trait of the people as a whole came out in all its ugly manifestations.
The 36 hours bandh, the ransacking and burning of the house of one of the accused, the expulsion of the family members of the accused from their locality may be seen as a collective stand of the people against such ghastly crimes, but yet at the same time it is also a reflection of the growing culture of a mindset, where mobocracy has come to rule the roost.
The accused are held, the police are on track. The focus should be on how the police proceed with the case and not inconvenience the public.
Demands can be raised from the Government to adequately compensate the bereaved family members. This is how the public should be responding to the situation.
Let the law take its course yet at the same time, keep up the pressure on the police to build a case strong enough to ensure that justice is not only delivered but is also seen to have been delivered.
For the moment, a pat on the shoulder of the State police is in line but it is up to them to ensure that the bouquets do not turn to brickbats by failing to file the relevant charge sheet.
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