GUWAHATI: Several people were injured as the police fired rubber bullets and resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the protesters who had laid siege to an Army camp demanding that eight jawans, who had allegedly raped a 13-year-old girl and molested her mother and another woman, be handed over to them. At least 10 cops sustained injuries in the melee.
The police used force after the agitators, who were mostly women and students, had partially damaged a watchtower and some bunkers of the Army at Dokmoka in Central Assam’s Karbi Anglong district on Friday.
Karbi Anglong SP, M J Mahanta, said they had formed a Special Investigation Team for the probe.
Mahanta added that the police would seek sanction for prosecution and arrest the culprits if the medical examination confirmed rape. “We have intimated the matter to the Army authorities who assured us of all support. Two cases have already been registered in this regard,” he added.
A Defence spokesman said the Army was fully cooperating with the police and the investigation. “We are carrying out an internal probe and if the charges are found to be true, action will be taken against the accused according to the law,” spokesman Suneet Newton said.
People from Khorsim Athor village had lodged a complaint with the police against the jawans, alleging the Army personnel raped the girl in the forest. When the girl’s mother and a relative went in search of her, they too were molested.