Attempt to loot gold chain resulted in killing, accused confess to police
SHILLONG: Two migrant labourers from Assam were on Wednesday arrested for allegedly murdering one Shoma Khongwir (24) of Hotel Pinewood residential quarters and dumping her body at Wahumkhrah River at Demseiniong.
The two accused identified as Kuddus Ali (25) and Alom Badsah Sheikh (25), both hailing from Dhubri district of Assam were arrested by the Special Cell and the Officers In-charge of Nongmynsong outpost.
East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police M. Kharkrang informed that the accused stole a gold chain from the victim after which they murdered her at a construction site and later dumped her body in the river.
The police official also did not rule out the rape angle, even though he said that the post-mortem report would only confirm if the deceased had been raped before she was murdered.
Khongwir’s body was fished out on July 28 from the Wahumkhrah River near Demseiniong Petrol Pump, a day after she had been reported missing from Polo area where she had gone to recharge her mobile at around 4 pm.
Meanwhile, an agency report said that one of the accused had been arrested last year on charge of molesting a minor at the Meghalaya Police Radio Organisation (MPRO) construction site.
Parents demand maximum punishment for accused
Salonsar Khongwir, the mother of the victim, who visited Nongmynsong PS after learning about the arrest of the accused, demanded maximum punishment for the duo who had murdered her daughter.
“Police told me that the court will decide the sentence, but I demand the severest of punishment for the two accused,” Khongwir said. The victim’s husband has been residing at Hong Kong since 2008.
The six-year-old son of the victim is now being looked after by the grandparents – Salonsar Khongwir and Ramesh Sagar, who is employed as a cook at Hotel Pinewood on a contractual basis.