Rejoinder to the press release by Naga Student's Union Mumbai posted on 2nd 2012

Mumbai, 07 July 2012

OFFICE OF THE
NAGA STUDENTS' UNION MUMBAI
Er. N.T. Jamir
Advisor to Naga Student's Union Mumbai (NSUM),
E mail: ntalijam(at)gmail(dot)com
Ref No: NSUM/ADV/Press-Rejoinder/01
Mumbai the 7th July, 2012

SUB: REJOINDER TO THE PRESS RELEASE BY NAGA STUDENT'S UNION MUMBAI POSTED ON 2ND AND UPDATED ON 5TH JULY 2012.

Dear Sir,

I would like to express a few words on the recent incident involving a Naga girl and two Naga boys from Manipur, residing and working in Mumbai through this rejoinder in your esteemed daily.

That the sitting for the settlement of the complaint was held at my residence on 23rd June, 2012 and I was present and witnessed the whole proceeding from beginning to end. The sitting was attended by both the parties with their guardian, representatives, peace loving elders and senior members of Nagas in Mumbai.

The adjudication progressed peacefully till the conclusion of the sitting and I am grateful to both the parties for their matured and peaceful understanding that helped the sitting progress to an amicable settlement.

The complainant (victim) approached the NSUM only after withdrawing the FIR from police. The complainant in this case was aggrieved and therefore prayed for justice from the traditional and customary body of NSUM and believed in good faith at the judicial aptitude of NSUM. Thus, without fear and with courage she filed the complaint and spoke in the sitting.

Before the sitting on 23rd June, 2012 another sitting was conducted by the executive members of NSUM and the statement of the parties recorded and formation of action committee was done. The sitting on 23rd June, 2012 hereinafter called 'second sitting' was conducted jointly by NSUM Executives, Elders, Action Committee and Senior members.

In the second sitting both the parties gave their statement. After hearing the statement from the victim and the accused each member present in the house expressed their opinion. All the members agreed that the statements given by them in the first and second sittings were contradictory as there were a lot of variations in the statements. Further, the version of the incident narrated by the victim and accused were not matching or corresponding with each other. Hence, it was difficult to give an adversarial judgment.

However after thorough discussion; each member of the House spoke of the guilt of the accused on the ground that the accused party have certainly done something which the complainant did not agree to, compelling her to cry out for help. Moreover, no lady would complain of such an offence unless she is prejudiced by the actions of the accused.

The House therefore despite the contradictory statements, on a rational analysis of the complainant's situation concluded that the accused have committed such an act which is not called for by a civilized person. At the end of the deliberation both the boys admitted their mistakes.

The NSUM accepted the verdict as concluded by the House that the two accused boys are guilty. After taking the opinion of all the members of the House the quantum of punishment was decided; immediate apology in writing and a fine as penalty by the guilty party to the complainant. And further that a letter should be sent to the parents and copies to the respective village churches of the guilty boys informing them of the incident.

The boys apologised to the complainant and also agreed to pay the fine before the due date. The complainant accepted the apology and pardoned the guilty boys and also waived the fine. The victim and her elders requested to keep the matter within the house and not to have press releases and to avoid social networking Medias. This was also agreed by the House

The House expressed appreciation to the complainant for her courage and magnanimous qualities; the humanitarian and particularly the Christian principle of forgiveness displayed by the complainant and her representatives. Thus, the sitting was concluded with the matter resolved and as a mark of conclusion the Action Committee was thereby dissolved.

Keeping all things in mind and as agreed in the House, NSUM neither made any press releases nor posted on social networking sites, maintaining the bridge of trust. However there were press releases and posting on social media regarding NSUM not handling the case. As a matter of fact, NSUM as a body has handled the case and resolved the matter between the complainant and the accused successfully on 23rd June 2012. Further any unrest minds who just try to defame NSUM will be dealt with within the jurisdiction by the Union in matter of time.

Yours' Sincerely

(Er. N T Jamir)
Advisor, NSUM.