Hiranmay Khakhlari
By Nava Thakuria*
Guwahati: Several conscious organisations in Assam have demanded stern action against suspected Bangladeshis involved in the gang rape of two girls and murder of a youth in Dudhnoi.
The two teenage girls were gang-raped and the youth was killed by three suspected Bangladeshis on their return from a Bihu function in Dudhnnoi on May 3, 2024. The police picked up Shekabar Ali and Parbina Begum in connection with the murder of Hiranmay.
Meanwhile, on the night of May 5, a team of Village Defence Party (VDP) members went to confront Dhan Ali Talukdar, an accused in the incident, where a group of goons attacked the team with sharp weapons. Hiranmay Khakhlari, a team member, sustained serious injuries and he was rushed to a nearby hospital. Later Hiranmay, also from Bodo community, was shifted to a private hospital in Guwahati but succumbed to injuries on May 17, 2024.
Dhan Ali Talukdar along with Bahar Ali and Rahman Ali as well, were arrested for their involvement in raping the girls.
Both the girls (belonging to the Bodo community) were raped and thereafter abandoned at the roadside by the perpetrators. The concerned families lodged a complaint at Dudhnoi police station under Goalpara district in western Assam.
Conscious organisations such as All Bodo Students’ Union, All Rabha Students’ Union, Sutradhar Students’ Union, Barman Kachari Students’ Union, and Prabajan Virodhi Manch, have expressed shock and dismay over the Dudhnoi incident. A nationalist forum in northeast India, Patriotic People’s Front Assam (PPFA), has demanded stringent punishment for criminals.
PPFA today also urged Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who also holds the State home portfolio, to take a personal interest in delivering justice to the victims’ families as early as possible.
Meanwhile, PPFA, in a media statement, also supported the demand for compensating the family of Hiranmay with Rs 20 lakh and Rs 5 lakh to the families of each teenage rape victim. It also urged the government to take pragmatic initiatives to verify the draft National Register of Citizens for Assam with the base year of 1951 and punish those guilty of fraudulence and money laundering during the NRC updation including those from the electronic media outlets.
*Senior journalist
