Mizo Girl Beaten in Guwahati For Asking Directions

Visitor attacked for asking directions to guesthouse, BJP suspends functionary

By Barnali Handique

Guwahati, Dec 30 : Three women, one of them the vice-president of the BJP’s city district unit, were arrested today for assaulting a Mizo girl yesterday morning.

The three, Juri Das (the BJP office-bearer who also runs a city-based NGO), Monimala Das and Mini Das, were later released on bail, a senior city police official said.

The 23-year-old girl from Mizoram, who was in the city to attend a wedding, was assaulted when she knocked on the door of one of the accused at Nabagiri under Chandmari police station for directions after apparently losing her way while returning to the private guesthouse where she had put up.

But instead of helping her, the woman, along with two other women who gathered there and an unidentified man, hit the girl, accusing her of being inebriated, sources said.

The women also took away her purse and mobile. Then they called up newspersons and when they arrived, beat up the girl again, the sources added.

Later, the women handed the girl over to the police.

But, after taking stock of the situation, the police refused to arrest her. Instead, they handed her over to the caretaker of the guesthouse and took action against the three accused after the caretaker filed an FIR at Chandmari police station last evening.

The officer-in-charge of Chandmari police station, R. Buragohain, said, “The Mizo girl was attacked when she sought help, asking for directions. We booked the three women under Section 143/325 IPC after the caretaker filed a complaint against them. Investigations are on.”

BJP spokesperson Dilip Saikia today said the party had suspended Juri Das following instructions from its state unit president, Ranjit Dutta.

Earlier in the day, the president of the BJP’s Mahila Morcha, Chikimiki Talukdar, had said, “We came to know about this unfortunate incident only a while ago. Juri Das is not a member of the Mahila Morcha but the BJP district committee. We may hold a meeting tomorrow to discuss the matter.”

Several social activists and organisations condemned the incident.

“The girl was a guest in the city and instead of being hospitable, these women attacked her for no fault of hers. One of the accused claims to be a social worker but how can she work for the cause of women if she herself assaults another woman? Whatever may be the reason, no one has the right to take the law into his or her own hands,” Sumitra Hazarika, a woman activist, said.

Hazarika said the girl had to be hospitalised yesterday but was released today. She was, however, too traumatised to be able to speak to anyone, she added.

Writer and social activist Maini Mahanta said, “Such incidents portray us in a poor light and can harm our relations with our neighbouring states. How can we fight discrimination and assaults on people from the Northeast in other parts of the country when women here behave in such a demeaning manner against girls from neighbouring states?”

“We apologise to Mizo society. The entire Assamese society is not like this. Some misguided people are,” she added.

The chairperson of Assam State Women’s Commission, Mridula Saharia, said, “We have requested the police to provide us details of the case. These women had no right to assault the girl and snatch away her belongings. It is very unfortunate.”

Speaking to The Telegraph, Juri Das admitted her involvement in the incident and alleged that some newspersons had instigated them to beat up the girl.

via The Telegraph