Murder of three in Ostracization case
SHILLONG: The East Khasi Hills District Administration has stated that stringent actions will be taken against the persons involved in motivating the mob to commit the murder of three innocent people at Smit by alleging them of practicing witchcraft.
EKH Deputy Commissioner Sanjay Goyal said “We will not hesitate in taking any action against individuals or institutions be it the Dorbar Shnong, if they are found guilty of committing a criminal offence either directly or indirectly.”
Speaking to media persons here on Thursday, Goyal said that as per the magisterial report on Smit’s murder case, it was clear that the Dorbar Shnong was playing a passive role during the incident and all along, they remained mute spectators which could have otherwise, been a different issue altogether.
“The magistrate questioned the role of the Dorbar and stated that no steps had been taken by the Dorbar to prevent the incident from happening, instead, they left the house of Lamphrang Nongrum, when the three victims had gone to clarify on the allegations leveled against them, despite foreseeing the outcome of the situations,” Goyal said.
The Dorbar Shnong has been bestowed with the responsibility to maintain law and order besides other activities and failure to do so, will compel the law to step in, Goyal said adding that “Action should be taken against the Dorbar for its failure to protect the lives of these three people who were brutally and inhumanely attacked by the mob.”
The DC also informed that the report will be sent to the State Government immediately and a copy of it will be forwarded to the police for references.
Meanwhile, the district police have stated that the investigation into the case is still going on to ascertained the involvement of the suspected persons in conspiring and embedding.
“This case is not over yet and we are still probing into the matter to establish more evidences and to ascertain the involvements of the accused persons,” East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police (City) Vivek Syiem said.
Admitting that the police had fallen short by one month in completing the investigations, Syiem cited reasons stating that the prevailing law and orders situation in the State has caused delay in investigation.
“We are hasting up the investigation,” Syiem said adding that the case which falls under the Special Report Cases (SRCs) is given equal attention as other cases of this nature which has been registered with the police.
Police have registered this case under sections 120 (b), 302, 353, 324, 32, 145, 147 and 148 of the Indian Penal Codes.