Satyabhama Case - II
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: April 13, 2013 -

Manipur Police may have claimed to have solved the case of 32-year old Ningombam Satyabhama, who was working as a Junior Research Fellow (JRF) under a project in Pathology Department of Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, but found murdered and abandoned in a dried up canal at Bashikhong Wangkhei Loumanbi under Imphal East district in the afternoon of April 5 after she reportedly left her Kakwa residence for work place in the morning of April 3.

But it appears that the case is still far from being solved with not many easy buyers available to the police claim of a big achievement in clearing the cloud of controversy over the sensational murder case after taking into custody three suspects, one of whom, of course, pleaded innocence and surrendered himself to the police.

Now, pointing out gaping holes in the statement given by the DGP himself during the press conference on April 9, the Joint Action Committee formed against the killing as well as the Women Committee of United NGOs Mission Manipur have questioned how could the lifeless body of Satyabhama, who was 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed around 80 kgs could be taken on a small size two-wheeler like Mahindra Rodeo till Bashikhong Wangkhei Loumanbi Loukon for disposal by Biju, the alleged killer, all alone?

Here, we may also pose, why would any alleged killer take the trouble of carrying a corpse around in a two-wheeler at the risk of being caught?

The easiest way out would have been to leave behind the corpse at the waiting shed itself and take to his heels since no one had seen him committing the black deed.

Why this simple logic does not occur in the mind of the members in the Special Investigation Team (SIT) handling the case?

Another point that is baffling the mind of the people with regard to the case of Satyabhama, but of which the investigating police team appears to have overlooked, was the contradiction between the statement given by the alleged killer Biju to the police on the timing of calling out Satyabhama from her house and that of what her father had revealed to the media.

Biju told the police that Satyabhama was called out from her house at around 1 pm on April 3 but the father of Satyabhama said that his daughter went out from home in the morning of April 3 and when she did not return for the night, they thought she might have been eloped and waited for confirmation till the following morning before going to the police to file a missing report.

Howsoever loathsome it may be to some higher police officers to what media writes on inept handling of the case, we can't help but be amused at the naivety of the State police in going by the confession of Biju, who had earlier taken the interrogating police officers on a free ride with cooked up stories, without thinking it proper to confirm whether Satyabhama had actually gone out from home in the wee hours and stayed with Biju even after repeated attempts to molest her in the hope that she would be taken to her lover James.

This was definitely not a sign of maturity on the part of the investigating police team. Last but not the least, the hurriedly convened press meet to proclaim 'a big achievement' in cracking the case just within 24 hours of all the three alleged conspirators trooping in after remaining 'clueless' for four days, shows the pathetic investigative skill of the State Police that leaves room for more questions than they could possibility find answers on their own.

So sad.