GNLA kills woman for resisting rape bid
TURA: In one of the most barbaric and heinous crimes in militancy ravaged Garo Hills, a 35-year-old mother identified as Josbina M Sangma had her head blown off by suspected GNLA militants in the presence of her children after she resisted their attempt to molest and rape her in remote Chokpot region on Tuesday evening.
The militants executed the mother of four children by forcibly making her sit on a chair outside her house at Raja Ronggat in Chokpot and opening fire from close range targeting her head and face. The impact of the firing blew her head off.
The militants accused her of collaborating with security forces against the armed outfit.
The woman and her husband ran a small tea shop at Raja Ronggat to feed the family and were relaxing in the compound of their home at around 6 pm when two armed militants came up to her while four other men stood guard outside.
The two militants accused the woman of being a police informer and tried to molest and rape her in the presence of her children who reportedly clung on to their mother as she fought off the militants’ advances.
“Her four children were witness to the molestation attempt and they have narrated to authorities the events leading up to their mother’s death,” informed South Garo Hills district administration.
Of the four children, three girls and one boy, the eldest daughter is seven years old while the youngest is a three-years-old son and is still breastfeeding.
“Prior to opening fire they accused her of keeping the police informed about their movements through mobile communication and demanded that she hand them over the cell phone even though she told them that she was not even financially strong to purchase one mobile,” informed the district magistrate.
Before executing the wife, the militants kept the husband confined inside their house.
The militants fired around five to six shots at the victim killing her on the spot. They also left behind a hand written note accusing her of being a police informer.
South Garo Hills police received an unconfirmed report about the killing of a woman by GNLA militants on Tuesday night but in view of the tense situation prevailing and possible ambush by the ultras they decided to wait for daybreak.
It was only on Wednesday morning that the mother of the victim and her relatives arrived at Chokpot police station to report the matter.
“We received inputs about a killing but no one appeared at the police station to lodge a complaint nor any telephone call was made to inform about the incident. Intelligence inputs had indicated that GNLA was planning to attack police personnel so they could not go out at night to verify the information,” informed district SP Lakador Syiem.
The allegation of police collaboration with the deceased stems from an encounter that took place on May 1, this year.
SWAT commandos of the state police raided a GNLA camp inside Daji Badimagre-Boldakgre village of Chokpot following intelligence inputs about movement of militants in the area.
In that attack police commandos shot dead Kram D Sangma, GNLA training instructor, and recovered an AK rifle, a pistol, several rounds of live ammo, IED bombs and wireless handsets.
The militant trainer was a resident of Dawagre village in Williamnagar.
After that encounter, GNLA militants returned to the area three weeks later and dragged out a former militant Sengran Marak from his house while he was tending to his sick young son. Accusing the former militant of informing the police about their camp the militants executed him in cold blood despite appeals by his wife and child to spare the father of the house.
In Tuesday’s gruesome killing of a woman at Raja Ronggat the GNLA has once again blamed the victim for the death of their training instructor Kram D Sangma in that police encounter.
GNLA militant behind execution identified: Meanwhile, Meghalaya police have confirmed that GNLA militant Tengton led the group that executed the woman after attempting to molest her and branding her a police informer.
“Tengton was dispatched by Chokpot area commander of GNLA Kiljang R Sangma alias Jangjang to murder the woman. Tengton was also the same militant who executed another innocent villager, Sengran R Marak at Daji Badimagre village of Chokpot,” informed police.
The militants branded Sengran Marak as a police informer and killed him in cold blood on May 27th night.