Assam trooper arrested for raping tribal girl

AGARTALA - A paramilitary trooper has been arrested on charges of making a false promise of marriage to a tribal girl in western Tripura and raping her, police said Saturday.

“We have arrested an Assam Rifles trooper Rajkiran Jamatia Friday night from Kalyanpur on the basis of a complaint lodged by the victim’s family,” sub-divisional police official Jayanta Chakraborty told IANS. Kalyanpur is 50 km north of Agartala.

Jamatia, now in jail, reportedly committed to marrying the 19-year-old tribal girl but subsequently fixed his wedding to another girl, the police official added.

Police are investigating the incident.

“In the tribals’ customary law, giving a false marriage pledge is a serious punishable crime,” customary law expert Kumud Kundu Chowdhury said.