Says no action taken on FIRs lodged by NGO
SHILLONG: Members of the Thma-U Rangli Juki (TUR) and the Civil Society Women’s Organisation (CSWO) have reiterated their demand for the resignation of Home Minister HDR Lyngdoh in connection with the rape and trafficking of a 14-year-old girl.
Calling the Minister “stubborn”, TUR’s Angela Rangad said, “Even in terms of the FIR we filed against Marvelene’s Inn (run by Lyngdoh’s family), nothing has happened yet. He can’t say he is not interfering and giving a free hand to police to investigate.”
The NGOs want to ensure that the Minister does not interfere in the investigation into the trafficking case.
“He is shameless enough not to do so (to quit). We the public need to get our act together to ensure that he steps down,” said Rangad.
Inquiry demanded
When asked on the promptness of the Centre to address the Governor issue, Rangad suspected a political agenda in place.
“Promptness is due to the UP elections since he was an RSS pracharak and (the BJP) didn’t want this to be blown out of proportion because it may affect the BJP in the UP elections,” she said and called for an inquiry as “resignation is not the end of it all”.
Asserting that a clear message should be sent ensuring that no individual gets away by abusing their power, Rangad said, “Article 361 does not operate and we don’t need prior sanctions from the President so speedy and decisive inquiry is needed leading to prosecution.”
To this, CSWO president Agnes Kharshiing said an inquiry into the role of secretary of the Governor Hima Shangpliang is also necessary. “How all these things could continue and this has been going on for quite some time and why did they allow the Governor to have his free control over Raj Bhavan,” she added.
She upheld the notion that the law has to operate equally and advocated zero tolerance in cases relating to crime against women. “In Meghalaya, I am certain that sexual harassment happens in all offices,” she said.
Kharshiing expressed concern that till date, the internal complaints committee as well as the local complaints committee at the Dorbar level has not been instituted.