SHILLONG: The North East Network (NEN) has strongly condemned the alleged rape of an 18-year-old girl by a public official, Vikash Gupta.
In a statement issued here on Monday, the NEN said that Vikash Gupta holds the post of the Ward Commissioner of the Cantonment Area in Shillong and he is also the owner of Aptech Aviation and Hospitality Academy and Hotel Assembly in the city.
“This case is a classic one of a man, in power, victimising a young girl who comes from a marginalised socio-economic background. Such cases are never reported usually, and these women continue to be abused in the hands of sexual predators,” the organization said.
“Sexual impunity of people in power has long thrived in the state of Meghalaya. The accused, in this case too, thought the girl would not report the case, threatening her that he had contacts (with people in authority and he also asserted that nothing would happen to him. In a way to prove his point, he even sent her selfies of himself when he was brought to Sadar Police Station, in Police Bazaar Shillong. Clearly, he displayed that normal procedures of arrest were not applied to him,” the statement said.
The NEN has called on the law enforcement agencies, the courts and all authorities to take speedy action against the accused.
