Northeast students complain to PM, hold rally

NEW DELHI - Holding placards and shouting slogans, scores of students and professionals from India’s northeast protested here Monday against the rape of a BPO staffer from Mizoram and submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Arijit Kakaty, a student of Delhi University who took part in the protest at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi, said: “It’s ridiculous how the authorities make promises of taking action against the culprits … and then forget about it.

“It happened last year too. We protested in large numbers against repeated cases of sexual harassment against northeastern girls. In response the chief minister of Delhi promised a helpline and other measures. A year on, nothing has materialised,” Kakaty told IANS.

A 30-year-old Mizo woman was abducted by four men and gangraped in a moving vehicle last week. She was abducted soon after being dropped along with another girl, 100 metres from her home, by her office vehicle in Dhaula Kuan area in south Delhi late in the night.

The men drove all the way to Mongolpuri in northwest Delhi and dumped her there.

Asin Kinimi, a student from Nagaland, said: “Our focus should primarily be to keep the pressure on the authorities and Delhi Police. Only then promises will be kept. In this gangrape case, we have to keep demanding speedy justice for things to actually materialise.”

According to Madhu Chandra, spokesperson of the Northeast Support Centre and Helpline, nearly 1,000 people participated in the protest. It was organised by the Mizo Students Union and the Mizoram Welfare Association.

Placards with slogans like ‘Delhi Police Act Now!’ and ‘Justice should be given to the victim’ were held by the protestors. They demanded that the BPO company where the victim worked should be booked for inadequate safety measures for its employees.

They submitted a memorandum to the prime minister seeking compensation for the victim under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities Act). According to Chandra, she belonged to the Scheduled Caste category.

“Students from the northeast who live in Delhi are often subjected to harassment and discrimination because of the way they look. But unfortunately, despite cases of sexual harassment, authorities do very little except making lofty promises,” Chandra said.

On Friday, Delhi Police released a sketch of one of the accused based on CCTV footage of the four accused and after questioning the victim’s friend.