SHILLONG/NONGPOH:
A resident of East Khasi Hills district has sought the intervention of the Meghalaya Human Rights Commission (MHRC) in the case of assault of three border residents by a mob at Jatalong village in Ri Bhoi district.
In his petition to the MHRC chairman, Joannes JTL Lamare, referred to reports and said on Friday, around 6 pm, three locals – Barnabas Lyngdoh, Seldron Mukhim and Flaming Sten of Khyndewso village – were passing through Jatalong village when a mob attacked them with such brutality that the three were seriously injured.
He said the actions that are recognised as violating the most basic human rights, such as violence endangering life, torture and physical or moral coercion, needs to be addressed at the earliest and also to render justice to the victims.
Moreover, Lamare said the attack on the three persons is a clear violation and suppression of human rights and could have led to the loss of precious lives had the victims not fled the place of incident.
Asserting that compensation for the victims also needs to be considered so as to provide them succour, he said this act of violence may also lead to the disruption of communal harmony and thus encourage the escalation of tension between communities residing in the adjoining areas.
“If there is communal unrest between the communities residing in these areas, community developmental programmes and progress cannot be carried out which is again a way that will lead to deprivation of civic amenities and thus these people cannot have access to proper ways of living,” he said.
“Therefore keeping this in mind, I have no other alternative but to humbly pray that the Meghalaya Human Rights Commission would take cognisance of this request for swift intervention so as to prevent further escalation of the problem,” he added.
Meanwhile, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Ri Bhoi, M Tongper, in a statement, said that the police have arrested members of both the groups and have registered a case against them as well.
“After the investigation and joint operation by the Meghalaya and Assam police, we found out that the clash between the groups was over illicit alcohol price. They all were inebriated when the incident happened,” the additional DC said.
Speaking to The Meghalayan, Seldron Mukhim said that he and his friends were outside a shop when a group of people came and beat them up without any reason. “We were just the three of us, and they were around nine to ten in number,” Mukhim said.
“After 30 minutes, Assam Police personnel and NGO also reached the spot to handle the situation, but the group still did not calm down,” he added.
Stating it to be a “small issue”, Tongper said that some groups took advantage of the situation to spread communal hatred. “We shut down the illegal liquor store,” Tongper added.
Jatalong is one of the areas of difference between Assam and Meghalaya and the majority community residing in the border village is Nepali.