24-year-old woman’s ‘murder’
SHILLONG: The poor parents of Shoma Khongwir, the 24-year-old woman whose semi-clad body was recovered by police recently, wanted severest punishment to be meted out to the culprits who had taken away the life of their only daughter.
During a visit of this reporter to the residential quarters of Pinewood Hotel on Saturday, it was felt that the parents are unable to grasp what happened to their daughter who was “jovial, friendly and did not have any enemies.”
“She was a happy girl and called herself Shakira the pop song singer at home,” said Salonsar Khongwir the mother of the victim.
The agony of the parents is aggravated by the fact that their daughter has left behind a six-year-old son who is yet to know what exactly happened to his mother, who left the house on the evening of July 27.
According to family members, Khongwir left the residential quarters of Pinewood Hotel at around 4 pm on July 27 and went to the Kwai shop of her relative at Polo. She left Polo at around 4.45 pm informing the relative that she has to repair her sandals and recharge the cell phone for which the relative gave her some money.
Khongwir’s mother tried to contact her at her cell phone since she failed to return home on time, but in vain. The phone was switched off by the evening of July 27. The mother hoped that her daughter will return soon, but the parents waited for two days and subsequently lodged an FIR on July 30.
However, police had already recovered Khongwir’s body on July 28. The cops could not contact the victim’s family as the body was yet to be identified.
Her body lay at the river at Demseiniong. The victim’s feet were tied together with ropes and the neck was found choked with a dupatta indicating the signs of murder. There is also a suspicion that she was raped. The parents are waiting for the post mortem report to confirm the rape angle.
According to the relatives, the perpetrators of the crime poured liquor on her mouth and face as smell had emanated. After she went missing, the parents made a frantic search at several places in Shillong and her mother even travelled to Nongpoh to find her whereabouts. The search ended after the police asked the parents to identify the body which they recovered from the river at Demseiniong.
There was delay in identifying the body after the recovery on July 28 as the FIR was lodged only on July 30. After the identification of the victim, the body was cremated at Jhalupara on August 1.
The parents believe that more persons are involved in the murder of their daughter as she could have tackled an attack if the abductor was a single person, since she learnt karate from her husband, a Thankhul Naga who is residing at Hong Kong since 2008.
“We want police to trace out the culprits and give maximum punishment to them,” said Ramesh Sagar, the father of the victim who is currently working as a cook on contract basis at Pinewood Hotel.