Mass protest gives 48-hr ultimatum to Govt
Source: Chronicle News Service / R Lester Makang
Ukhrul, August 16 2021:
Widespread condemnation and protests against the brutal killing of two residents of Sanakeithei village, Thotreichan Kashung and Naosomi Lungleng continued unabated, as a massive congregation drawn from across Tangkhul civil society organisations and neighbouring villages staged a mass protest in the village on Monday.
The failure on the part of the law enforcement agencies and the state authorities to crack the case even after over a week has elapsed, has invited the wrath and suspicion of the public.
Taking serious note of this, the congregation adopted a three-point resolution to press the state government, including giving a 48-hour ultimatum to the government to nab the culprits.
"We have waited for the last many days but nothing has come forth till date.
Now, for the last time, we are giving a 48-hours' time to the state government to nab the culprits responsible for the heinous crimes, failing which we will take recourse to a series of agitations," Sanakeithei village chairman Kachang Phungmi said, referring to the ultimatum.
He said that the other two points of the resolution were reaffirmation of the previous decision not to claim the bodies until the culprits are nabbed and fixing of responsibilities to the state government for any untoward incidents arising out of the situation.
The resolution was adopted by the public who congregated during the mass protest organised under the aegis of Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL).
Cutting across communal lines, members of Meitei and Nepali communities from the adjoining areas joined the Sanakeithei villagers and Tangkhul public in the mass protest demonstration which saw around two thousand people in attendance.
Speaking on the occasion, TNL president Hopingson Shimray said that the state government must bring the double murder case to a logical conclusion at the earliest.
He said that the way the government is treating the case is far from satisfactory.
"This is denial of justice not just to the victims and their families but also to the entire Tangkhul community, because justice delayed is justice denial," he said, decrying the indifferent attitude of the state authorities towards the murder case.
He said that if the state government is not ready to resolve the case, the public would even go to the extent of roping in the service of CBI to resolve the case.
Expressing doubt about the manner in which autopsy was performed on the bodies, Shimray said that the report has not been handed out to the families till date.
"If we are not satisfied with the post-mortem report, then we are ready to go for re-conduct of the same from different hospitals," he said.
Many public leaders, who attended the mass protest, strongly condemned the brutal murder of the two villagers and decried the failure of the state authorities to book the culprits.
The participants led by the public leaders marched from the public ground to the site where the lifeless bodies of the two victims were recovered.
Hopingson Shimray performed customary rituals, in the presence of the victims' families and the public to invoke God's blessing for the souls of the two deceased Thotreichan Kashung and Naosomi Lungleng to rest in peace.
It may be recalled that the bodies of the two victims were found in a highly decomposed state inside a bush area on the bank of Ihang River on the southern outskirts of their village, at about 3 pm on August 8, after they had gone missing since August 4 last.
Subsequently, an FIR bearing No 11(8) 2021LTN PS u/s 302 IPC, was lodged at Litan police station on the same day.
The two victims were last seen at neighbouring Dongshum village, Senapati district, about 4 km off Sanakeithei village.
Suspecting unnatural deaths of the two persons, Tangkhul Civil Society spearheaded by Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL) and Sanakeithei village have been mounting pressure on the state authorities to book the culprits immediately.
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