Assam horror: Woman raped, fingers chopped off in Cachar

Cachar: In yet another incident of alleged sexual violence in Southern Assam’s Cachar district, a woman has lodged a complaint of rape and brutal assault at the Dholai Police Station. While the incident happened on October 25 and the survivor has identified the two men involved in the crime, the police are yet to take any action against them, the victim alleged on Sunday.

The victim, who said she was a widow and lived with her infant son, identified the two accused as Maniruddin and Riyaz from Bidyaratanpur village.

“They are from a well-off family and have managed the police to get protection. So they have not been arrested yet,” the survivor alleged on Sunday while receiving treatment at the Silchar Medical College.

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The alleged incident happened at Punihawai village under the Dholai constituency of Cachar district. According to the survivor’s account, the two men trespassed into her house on October 25 by breaking the wall with a sharp weapon, and then took her son into their custody to rape her.

“They raped me and later tried to kill with a machete. I lost four fingers of my left hand,” she alleged. The perpetrators allegedly fled the spot as the woman started to scream in pain after her fingers were chopped. 

The survivor claims the police are yet to arrest the culprits even two weeks after the complaint was registered. She is also facing life threats and intimidation from the perpetrators, the survivor alleged.

“I have no one of my own, my parents died long time ago. Even my husband is no more and I stay alone with my son. They have cut off my fingers now. How am I supposed to survive? How am I supposed to feed my son?” said the survivor.

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However, when contacted, Dholai PS in-charge Sahabuddin Barbhuiya refuted the claims made by the victim and said the two accused persons have been arrested and undergoing interrogating.

“The facts stated by the victim are not true as her husband is alive. We have performed her medical tests and awaiting reports. A preliminary understanding of the case suggests that the matter is related to a property dispute as the said husband has another wife and the accused persons are relatives of the first wife,” the officer told EastMojo, adding that the police is looking into all the angles.

The incident has also drawn flak from the citizens over the alleged inaction of the police department, even as Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has warned of zero tolerance towards crime against women in the state.

As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, a total of 1038 crimes against women were recorded in Cachar district alone in 2020. Also, Assam had the highest crime rate against women in 2020, with 26352 cases reported during the year.

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