GUWAHATI: The rape and murder of two teenage tribal girls found hanging from a tree in their village in western Assam’s Kokrajhar district has triggered demands for implementation of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act “in letter and spirit”.
Seven people have been arrested so far for their suspected involvement in the crime, which comes two months after an underage Karbi girl illegally employed as a domestic help in Nagaon was allegedly raped, murdered and set ablaze.
“Three of the accused were directly involved in the gangrape and murder of the two teenage girls, while four others tried to destroy the evidence and mislead the police during probe,” special DGP L R Bishnoi said. The victims, aged 14 and16, were initially thought to have died by suicide on June 11 despite their families alleging they had been murdered.
Tribal rights activist Raju Deuri on Wednesday accused the welfare of plains tribes and backward classes department of not taking any initiative to enforce the prevention of atrocities act specific to tribal communities.
