A North East Girl Sexually Assaulted and Beaten by Man. Students Forced to Vacate Rented House. Police delayed Registering Complaint.

New Delhi, October 22, 2007

Same night after “North East Support Centre & Helpline” was officially launched at Press Club of India, a tribal girl age of 21 years old from Manipur was sexually assaulted by a tenant at 12:30 AM on October 21, 2007. In spite of protecting the victim, the landlord forced victim’s cousin and other students from north east India living in the rented house to vacate the rooms without any notice.

Fact Finding Team of “North East Support Centre & Helpline” after hearing the news of the incident, rushed to the spot and gave immediate trauma counseling to the victim. An application was lodged in Vasant Kunj Police station to book the accused and landlord under SC/ST Atrocity Prevention Act (1995)

The incident happened when she along with her sister went to visit her cousin brother who lives in rented a room in Mahipalpur.

The Victim reports to North East Support Centre & Helpline, “When my cousin went to shared bathroom outside the room, I was waiting outside for her, a tenant claimed to be a police man started taking picture of me and molested me by pointing out to my private parts.”

When she screamed, her cousin brothers came out in rescue of her. They were abused by the man claimed to police in front to the residents by making assault remarks on them.

Next day, the landlord, instead of protecting the victim, forced three students from Manipur living in the rented rooms of the same building to vacate the house immediately without any prior notice. Students sought shelter in their friends living near by along with their belongings after they were pushed out by the landlord.

Fact Finding Team consisted of Supreme Court Lawyer Ms. Lansinglu Rongmei, All India Christian Council’s Regional Secretary Rev. Madhu Chandra, Journalist Ms. Lemyao Shimray, Researcher Dr. Alana Golmei and Mrs. Mandali Devi rushed to the spot and gave trauma counseling to the victims and lodged complaint in Vasant Kunj Police station under SC/ST Atrocity Prevention Act (1995).

The Duty Officer Mr. Nalka Ram refused to entertain the complaint. After waiting for two and half hour long, under the instruction of Station House Office of Police Station Mr. Rajesh Kumar endorsed the application by victims and First Information Report (FIR) with appropriate sections of IPC and under SC/ST Atrocity Prevention Act (1995) will be registered.

Girls from North East India have suffered sexual abuses at work places, colleges, rented homes, roads and market places in recent time. In 2005 a girl was raped in a moving car. A girl was molested by a manager of Mall in Gurgaon last year and in last September, two girls were assaulted in Delhi University Campus, of which duty office of Police station refused to take their complaint.