Naga Council Dimapur and Naga Women Hoho Dimapur condemn
Staff Reporter
Dimapur, March 3
A Naga girl was raped by a married man identified as one Syed Farid Khan, 35 years, in the late evening of February 23 in a locality in Dimapur. According to police, Syed Farid Khan who deals in second hand vehicles invited the girl on the pretext of having some light snacks to a place but raped her thrice the same night after intoxicating the victim. A male colleague of the accused who is a business partner also accompanied them till Super Market area.
The following day after a complaint was lodged by the victim, Farid Khan was arrested from his residence by the police. On interrogation Farid Khan admitted to his crime, police added. The accused and the victim are said to be immediate neighbours.
Meanwhile, Naga Council Dimapur (NCD) and Naga Women Hoho Dimapur (NWHD) have strongly condemned the incident.
In a joint statement the NCD and NWHD said they are once again compelled to condemn the rape of a Sumi Naga girl by Syed Khan, a suspected Illegal Bangladeshi Immigrant (IBI). “Not only was the girl raped multiple times, she was beaten up and threatened with death during the entire episode, the joint statement alleged. “Though condemnable, this heinous crime has only exposed our Naga weaknesses and unless all Nagas take responsibility to tackle the menace of unabated IBI influx and their stay here in the state, crimes against our women and daughters by these people will only increase,” NCD and NWHD stated. Naga civil society organisations cannot be reduced to only ‘condemning’ the crimes but long as the government and Naga society refuse to wake up, such crimes will only keep recurring and Nagas can only watch and condemn, meekly, they asserted. Under the circumstances, it is heartening that Survival Nagaland has started a movement to tackle the issue of IBI, they added.
“It is the clarion call of Naga Council and Naga Women Hoho Dimapur that it is time Naga landlords stop renting their vacant plots and buildings to IBIs and their cohorts; time that village and colony councils ensure that no IBIs are sheltered in their jurisdictions; and time for the district administrations and police at the gates to ensure that issuance of Inner Line Permit (ILP) and its monitoring is strictly checked and adhered to,” the two organizations said. It is the stand of NCD and NWHD that no Naga should barter away the future of our children for monetary gain. It is unfortunate that Naga Council has been petitioning the state government for the last 3 to 4 years to take concrete measures but to no avail, NCD and NWHD stated
“Lastly, Naga families would also do well to learn that marrying off their daughters to IBIs or adopting them does not beget anything good,” the joint statement added.
Both NCD and NWHD expressed sympathy to the victim.
