Another rape in JH, body recovered from coal mine

JOWAI: In a shocking revelation, a day after he was arrested for raping and murdering a three-year-old girl in East Jaintia Hills, the accused Michael Dkhar confessed to raping and killing another minor in the district.
Following the confession, Khliehriat Police fished out the body of the 11-year-old victim, who had been missing for three months and 17 days, from an abandoned coal mine situated at Jalyiah village, around 10 km from Lad Sutnga in East Jaintia Hills.
The victim Risa Talang was raped and murdered by Michael Dkhar alias Emvyris Dkhar of Lad-Sutnga village who later dumped the body in the abandoned coal mine. The accused thus raped and murdered two minor girls in a span of three months.
Following his arrest on Tuesday, Dkhar had led Khliehriat Police to an under-construction two-storied building at 1 Kilo, between ( Lad Sutnga and Sutnga village where the body of the three-year-old was recovered.
The accused later confessed that he also raped and murdered the Talang who hailed from Nongjngi Khliehshnong, West Jaintia Hills. He committed the crime at Lad-Sutnga on November 17 last.
According to Police, the mother of the accused, Agnes Dkhar was a close friend of the victim’s mother, Silda Talang.
Silda Talang came to Lad-Sutnga with her daughter in search of work. The mother of the accused asked Talang to allow her daughter to stay with her so that she could take care of her needs and even her education.
On the evening of November 17, the girl was taken to a cemetery of the Catholic Church by Michael Dkhar where he committed the heinous crime.
Later he dragged the body into his friend’s vehicle and dumped it in an abandoned coal mine at Jalyiah village.
On Thursday, the accused led the police team to the spot where the girl’s body was dumped.
A police officer informed that the coal mine was filled with water and as the police were arranging for water pump to spill out the water to retrieve the girl’s body, it came out floating on the surface of the water inside the coal mine.
Meanwhile, as news about the twin rape and murder spread in the area, a large crowd gathered at the Khliehriat police station seeking to punish the accused, who had to be shifted to an unknown location.
EJH Superintendent of Police, S Thamar said that the accused is still being interrogated to ascertain as to how he committed the crimes.