Assam chief minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday took to Twitter to announce that the perpetrators of a heinous rape on two minor tribal girls in Kokrajhar have been arrested by the police. The girls, aged 14 and 16, belonged to the Rabha community and were found hanging from a tree on Saturday. The Assam CM had travelled to Kokrajhar district and met the victims’ family last Sunday. On the orders of the chief minister, a Special Investigation Team was formed to probe the incident. Within 72 hours, the Assam Police have managed to arrest the culprits.
The seven accused who have been arrested are as follows: Muzammil Sheikh, Nazibul Sheikh, Farouk Rahman, Hanif Sheikh, Jahanur Islam, Md. Atab Ali and Sankarde Barman. Kokrajhar district Superintendent of Police (SP) Thube Prateek Kumar told India Today that the three prime accused – Muzammil Sheikh, Nazibul Sheikh and Farouk Rahman among the seven arrested have confessed to raping and killing the two minor girls.
On Twitter, the Assam chief minister congratulated his state’s police force for the speedy action in the case. Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “Muzammil Sheikh, Nazibul Sheikh and Farouk Rahman arrested for rape and murder of two tribal minor girls in Kokrajhar district. The heinous crime was allegedly committed with the girls first choked to death & their bodies hanged in a tree to hoodwink. Assam Police did a commendable job.”
Muzammil Sheikh, Nazibul Sheikh and Farouk Rahman arrested for rape and murder of 2 tribal minor girls in Kokrajhar dist.The heinous crime was allegedly committed with the girls first choked to death & their bodies hanged in a tree to hoodwink. @assampolice did a commendable job.
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (Modi Ka Parivar) (@himantabiswa) June 15, 2021
He said that the girls were first choked to death by the rapists and their bodies were hanged on a tree to present the incident as that of a suicide. Assam DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said in a press conference on Tuesday that the teenage girls were raped before they were killed. “Three of the accused were directly involved in the gang-rape and murder of two teenage girls while four others had tried to destroy the evidences and tried to mislead police during investigation.”
I have instructed @assampolice to do an expeditious investigation to unearth the cause of death.
The Government will take stringent action, if there is any foul play. If the victims were forced to do self harm, Police shall find the reasons for the same. 2/3 pic.twitter.com/SRIUyuyOzR
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (Modi Ka Parivar) (@himantabiswa) June 13, 2021
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Himanta Biswa Sarma had been personally monitoring the case, and on Sunday, had even visited the victims’ family to console and reassure them that the most stringent action will be taken against the perpetrators of the heinous crime. “Women safety shall always remain top priority of Assam Government. Atrocity in any form against poor too shall not be tolerated,” the chief minister had said. Himanta Biswa Sarma is personally ensuring that Assam’s law and order machinery cracks cases swiftly so that victims can be provided with justice as soon as possible.
What is common among all the perpetrators of the crime?? The fact that all of them were muslims..