SHILLONG, Dec 19 � With the whole country upset over the Delhi gangrape case, another gangrape of an 18-year-old girl by 16 boys and men in Meghalaya�s East Garo Hills district has led to demand here for capital punishment for rapists.
The Williamnagar gangrape occurred on December 13, where the victim was reportedly hit by a stone and then 16 people gangraped the unconscious girl. The girl together with her friends was on their way home from the Simsang festival when they were accosted by the alleged rapists and took turns to rape the victim.
The police have already arrested fifteen out of the sixteen alleged rapists, some of them aged between 13 years old to 20 years.
�They should be hanged after being tried through a fast track court,� Mahila Congress general secretary C Marbaninang demanded. She said such cases must be expedited through a fast track court and the most extreme punishment should be handed out.
�This is an extremely disturbing trend that is happening in Meghalaya. We see reports almost on a daily basis about rape cases in the newspapers and serious steps have to be taken immediately to arrest this negative trend,� she added. The Mahila Congress would also give a representation to the Government on the Williamnagar rape case.
State Women�s Commission chaiperson Roshan Warjri expressing extreme sadness on the incident said the Commission would be holding a meeting tomorrow on the incident.
�Having a fast track Court on this heinous incident is of utmost importance at this present juncture,� the State Women�s Commission said.
Agnes Kharshiing of the Civil Society Women�s Organisation said that her organisation has been demanding that fast track court should try all rape cases in the State.
�Not just this Williamnagar case but all rape cases must be tried through a fast track Court. Moreover, the medical report of rape cases must be handed over to the victim�s family as soon as it is conducted. These have been our demands for the past many years,� she stated.
