Durba Paul and Co. Assault: Organisations stage protest in Silchar; Dilip Paul 'unhappy' over role of police

Several organisations and civil society groups staged a protest in front of Cachar deputy commissioner’s office in Silchar on Wednesday demanding arrest within 24 hours of those involved in an assault on two tribal woman vendors on November 24.

Two tribal woman vendors Gracy Hmar and Lalmounpui Hmar, both residents of Hmarkhawlien village in Cachar district, were beaten up brutally at a roadside market at Jail Road in Silchar on that day for allegedly stealing a stray dog to sell its meat. An FIR was lodged with Silchar Sadar Police Station on December 5 following a video of the assault surfaced on social media.

The video, which has been doing the rounds on social media, shows a girl identified as Durba Paul abusing, threatening, dragging and assaulting one of the vendors, while two others identified as Priya Mazumder and Sagnick Gupta were present at the spot.

Members of the organisations including the Barak Valley Hmar Students’ Association, Manipuri Youths’ Front Assam, Dimasa Students’ Union, All Assam Manipuri Students’ Union, Cachar Hindi Bhashi Chatra Parishad and Stand for People’s Group among others gathered around 12:15pm in front of the deputy commissioner’s office carrying placards saying “We Want Justice for Gracy Hmar”, “We Want Justice for Lalmounpui Hmar” and such others, and raised slogans in unison demanding arrest of those involved in the assault.

Lalsiemthar Hmar, vice-president of the Barak Valley Hmar Students’ Association, vociferously condemned the assault and demanded stern action against the assailants. He said they will go for road blockades and other large-scale protests if the trio is not arrested within 24 hours.

Lalmounpui Hmar, who was present, said Durba, Priya and Sagnick had brutally assaulted her and Gracy without even listening to them. She said the trio did not entertain their repeated cries for mercy and hit them for a long time on that day.

The mother of Gracy Hmar said Gracy was pregnant and she had a miscarriage because of the assault. She demanded that the culprits should be put behind bars at the earliest.

K. Bikramjit, finance secretary of the All Assam Manipuri Students’ Union, said the act of assaulting the innocent vegetable sellers was “unpardonable” and demanded stern action against those involved. He vented his fury over the police authority for not being able to nab the suspects even though almost two weeks have passed since the FIR was lodged.

Rupam Nandi Purkayastha, advisor to the All Cachar Karimganj Hailakandi Students’ Association, said the authorities should take prompt steps and arrest the culprits be held as soon as possible. Large-scale protests will be held if their demands are not fulfilled, he said.

All the organisations also demanded a compensation for the family of the assaulted vendors.

Later, the organisations’ members submitted a memorandum to Cachar deputy commissioner S. Lakshmanan in this regard. Lakshmanan said the matter would be dealt with seriously and necessary action would be taken regarding the matter.

Cachar superintendent of police Rakesh Roushan, who was also present, said all the suspects Durba, Priya and Sagnick were absconding and efforts were on to nab them. “Police are conducting raids at different places. Hopefully, we will able to catch them soon,” he said.

Silchar MLA Dilip Kumar Paul, who also visited the deputy commissioner’s office, questioned why the culprits had not been held so far and expressed his dissatisfaction over the role of the police authority in the case.