Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday strongly condemned the lynching of a person accused of rape by a mob that barged into the central jail in Nagaland’s Dimapur town on Thursday.
The victim’s family reportedly belongs to the Barak valley in Assam. He was sent to jail on February 24 on charges of raping a Naga girl in Dimapur.
In a statement issued here, Mr Gogoi termed the incident barbaric, heinous and inhuman. “The manner in which the youth was dragged out of jail and killed brutally by a mob on the streets is highly condemnable.” No one could take the law into their own hands. Stern action must be taken against those involved, said the Chief Minister.
“At the same time, the crime committed by the youth is equally condemnable. But he should have been tried as per law. The law should have been allowed to take its own course,” his statement said.
Mr. Gogoi said the incident had been taken up in right earnest both at the Chief Minister’s and the Chief Secretary’s levels. The incident had triggered protests in some parts of Barak valley on Friday.
Nagaland Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang has convened an emergency meeting of his Cabinet to take stock of the situation in Dimapur town. Curfew was clamped in the town to prevent escalation in the situation. The government had also ordered a high level inquiry.
