Sudden rains failed to dampen the spirit of the large number of protesters, mostly from the North Eastern States, who descended on Jantar Mantar on Thursday evening to hold a candle light vigil demanding justice for 23-year-old Manipuri woman Reingamphi Awungshi who was found dead at her rented accommodation in Chirag Dilli last week.
Expressing their solidarity with the deceased woman and alleging that the investigations left a lot be desired, the demonstrators, who included representatives from women groups, questioned why was the cause of death was withheld even after two post mortems on the victim’s body.
“Even if the death was caused by some tablets, as the police suspect, it should be probed whether she consumed those on her own or was made to,” said Binalakshmi Nepram, founder of Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network, one of the groups which had given the protest call.
Ms. Nepram also questioned why the provisions of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act were not invoked as the girl belonged to a tribal community.
Carrying pictures of Reingamphi Awungshi and placards, with slogans such as “Patriarchy, misogyny. Our cultural complicity in rape”, those assembled said women from the North East remained more vulnerable to crime in the Capital than those from other parts of the country.
They also blamed the South District police for “unilaterally” registering the first information report without consulting the victim’s relatives who were present in the city.
The body of the victim was flown back to Manipur on Wednesday night.
