A 21-year-old youth of Wangbal in Thoubal district, allegedly raped and murdered his cousin on Sunday evening. The girl, aged 18 was a student of class 12 in a local school. The accused is absconding. Angry villagers torched the house of Sureshkumar Thiyam, the accused. Policemen have been posted in the area to prevent any untoward incident.
Reports said that Thiyam was married to a girl just five months back. It appears that on Sunday evening when all elderly family members were in the paddy fields, the accused lured the girl, who is a next door neighbour, inside his house on some subterfuge. Then he was suspected to have brutally raped her.
When the victim started screaming, he covered her face with a pillow as a result of which she died of suffocation.
Meanwhile, Maya, the younger sister of the victim, searched for her sister. The family members of the accused had also gone to the field.
When the younger sister entered the house of the accused, she found her sister lying in a pool of blood. In response of her screams local residents rushed into the house. In the meantime the accused managed to flee. The victim was immediately rushed to the hospital where she was declared ‘brought dead’.
On hearing new of the girl’s death, villagers ransacked the house and later torched it along with all belongings.
Subsequently, they held a meeting on Monday to demand suitable punishment to the accused. It was also resolved that the accused and his immediate family members will be banished from the village for life.
This is the standard punishment meted out by villagers in Manipur and the government does not interfere.
Police have registered a case.
A manhunt is launched to apprehend the accused.
