Woman seeking justice from court receives threats
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, May 06 2011:
A woman whose husband had been a victim of alleged "extra judicial" killing involving security forces have been threatened by an accused to withdraw the case.
She had been fighting against all odds at the face of the threats that has seriously jeopardized her life.
"Khangembam Priyokumar Singh was killed by a combined team of Imphal West police commandos led by Jemadar Binoy Irom and personnel of 12 Maratha Light Infantry (MLI) led by Lt Vikram on January 4, 2009," said Khangembam Puspa Devi, wife of the victim.
She had complained to the CBI in 2010 seeking an investigation to the case of the killing of her husband Priyokumar who died in suspicious circumstances.
She stated in that complaint memo that the FIR report�FIR No.4 (1) 2009 WGI-PS U/s 121/121-A, 307/34 IPC, 25 (1-c) A Act & 5 Expl.
Sub.
Act & 16/20 UA(P) Amnt.
Act 04�and the postmortem examination report which she had gathered reflecting her claims of the death of her husband.
After her husband's disappearance, Puspa was informed by a local vegetable vendor that during the first week of January 2009 two youths had been brought near Ishokching playground by security personnel and were beaten mercilessly.
Pushpa said at the intervention of the womenfolk of Ishok village the beating was discontinued but the two youths were taken to the nearby hill and killed.
Pushpa also said that on the day of the killing she had called her husband on his mobile but one Tekcham Mohindro Singh received the call and swiftly disconnected it.
She asked Mohindro how her husband's mobile was with him, Mohendro maintained that her husband and his friend Nehru had given him the phone before they left for some work, she said.
In the initial FIR report, Puspa had said that Tekcham Mohindro Singh and Thekcham Ajit Singh were accused of being accessories in the "extra judicial" killing of her husband, but corrected later on that the name Tekcham Ajit Singh was an oversight which was to be replaced with Thekcham Ojit Singh.
In order to force her to withdraw his name from the list of the accused, Mohindro and his wife along with Ojit and his wife have been allegedly threatening her to go to the press to 'clarify' and strike out his name.
"They also threatened me that if I refused to go to the press, the entire family of Khangembam Sagei will be burned to cinders," she said in another complaint made to the State Director General of Police.
She has also alleged that the accused families dragged and beat her to go to the press to effect the withdrawal.
The litigation on the killing of Khagembam Priyokumar Singh in an alleged fake encounter on Janurary 4, 2009�W.P.(RCL) No 24 of 201�was heard by Imphal bench of the Gauhati High Court who appropriately issued notice to the respondents mentioned in the case.
In a press conference today, Puspa Devi said defiantly, "If they want to kill me, let them do so.
I just wanted to know the circumstances leading to the killing of my husband" .
Human Rights Initiative (HRI), a Manipur based human rights watch dog has extended all possible assistance to Puspa Devi in her fight against the security forces' unrestrained behaviour of extra judicial killings in the state.
S Seitabati , women coordinator of HRI, said that Pushpa would be provided a safe haven by HRI if she is afraid to fight from her home and sufficient protection would be provided to her when she appears in the court.
Another HRI member who was present in the press conference accused the police of not discharging its duties which have often complicated cases.
"If the police had acted in right earnest, the situation would not have come to this.
State security forces are singularly responsible for the present situation" .
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