SHILLONG: Mawhati MLA Julius Dorphang, who has been arrested for raping a 14-year-old girl from Ichamati, was remanded in 14-day judicial custody on Thursday.
Dorphang is lodged at the high security wing of the jail and he will be treated like an ordinary prisoner, a jail official said.
The former HNLC chairman-turned-legislator was produced before the court of district and sessions judge here on Thursday amidst tight security after his five-day police custody on Thursday.
He was brought to the court in the presence of Meghalaya police, CRPF personnel and the officer in charge of Laitumkhrah police station.
The court of district and sessions judge earlier on Wednesday had also sent Wanlambok Khongsit alias Jhandu, the owner of the house where the minor girl was staying with Mamoni Parveen and her husband, to 14-day judicial custody after considering the case under the POCSO Act against him when he was produced before the court.
When asked if he would speak to the media, Dorphang said he would when it is time and he was whisked away by the police personnel.
Shillong police have already asserted that it would not seek police custody of the accused since he was cooperating in the investigation.
Dorphang has been accused of raping the minor girl in a resort in Motinagar and in Orchid Lake Resort in Umiam.
Following the filing of the FIR by the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the city police started its manhunt to trace the MLA and later he was finally arrested from ISBT in Guwahati jointly by Assam and Meghalaya police.