AIZAWL:
Mizoram Police arrested a 25-year-old man on August 16 on the charge of assaulting his wife even as the Mizoram State Commission for Women took suo moto cognisance on an undated video that went viral on August 15 night.
“The 30-second long video showed a man wearing a blue t-shirt and trousers beating up a woman who was carrying a child. The man dragged the woman along with the child across the floor, and stomped on her. The man then grabbed a firewood and hit the woman. As the people in the video speak in Mizo, the incident apparently took place in Mizoram,” MSCW said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Going by the short clip, it would be safe to assume that the woman was a victim of repeated domestic violence behind the scenes,” the statement added.
The police arrested Lalramdinsanga, a resident of Siahatla-II in Siaha district within 24 hours after the video went viral. According to them, the incident took place around 6:00 pm on August 13. The accused told the police that he went to work on that day and when he got home, he found his wife in a drunken state. He too, being drunk, beat his wife in a fit of anger.
Police said the video was shot by a 15-year-old girl and posted on social media by another girl, both of the same locality.
Taking a serious note on the violence against the woman and the innocent child, the Commission took suo moto notice under Clause (d) of Sub-section (1) of Section 10 of Mizoram State Commission for Women Act, 2004 which states, “to look into complaints and take suo moto notice of matters relating to – (i) deprivation of women’s right; (ii) non-implementation of laws enacted to provide protection to women and also to achieve the objective of equality and development; (ii) non-compliance of policy decisions, guidelines or instructions aimed at mitigating hardships and ensuring welfare and providing relief to women; and to take up the issues arising out of such matters with appropriate authorities”.
The Commission assigned Director general of police (DGP) of Mizoram as Opposite Party No. 1 and director of Women and Child Development department, nodal department for Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, as Opposite Party No 2.
The Commission instructed the Mizoram Police, the state DGP in particular, to conduct a speedy investigation to arrest the culprit or culprits at the earliest and submit a report to the commission within seven days. It also tasked the police to find out if the woman and her child suffered injuries from beatings, and if any what types of treatment they received.
The Commission also requested the public, except for the investigating team, to delete the “disturbing” video clip from their phones/personal computers.