Assam rape accused dies in custody, cops say jumped into pond

Police claim that following his interrogation, Islam was taken to the crime scene around 3 am on Saturday, when he jumped into a pond while still handcuffed.

“We cordoned the area and called the State Disaster Relief Force, which recovered the body. A constable who was holding his handcuffs suffered an injury to his hand,” Superintendent of Police, Nagaon, Swapnaneel Deka said.

When The Indian Express asked why the accused was taken to the crime scene at that hour, Deka said this was because the town had been “paralysed” by protests through all of Friday.

Following the rape, the town has seen hundreds of locals come out on the streets demanding punishment against the perpetrators.

“The whole town had been paralysed by protests all day long. The police station itself had been blocked by protesters till 11:30 pm. We anticipated that there would be protests on Saturday too, so the night was the appropriate time to take the accused to identify and raid the houses of the co-accused. We also wanted to observe his familiarity with the crime scene,” said Deka.

The teen is still in hospital, where she was taken after being found in a semi-conscious state by local boys on Thursday evening.

The area where she was found is by the main road leading to her village, surrounded by paddy fields. There are no lights there.

The girl lives with grandparents and her aunt since her father works in the state capital, and her mother passed away when she was a toddler. Her grandmother said she had been concerned on Friday when the girl did not return from tuition classes in another village, around 6 kilometres away, which is also where she goes to school.

“She goes there in the afternoon for tuition thrice a week and is usually dropped off and picked up in a car by her uncle. But that day, she had gone on cycle. When she wasn’t home by 6 pm, I called her friend, who also goes to the same class, and was told that she had left some time back,” she said, adding that they had not given the teen a mobile phone.

One of her cousins said she goes to study in another village because it is an English-medium school. “She is the only girl from our village who goes there. The others study in the state board school here. We got her admitted there so she can get a good education and do well in life. We will think about whether she will continue there later. For now, we only want her to come back and to support her mentally through this experience,” she said.

Her father rushed back from Guwahati on Thursday night. “When I met her, she couldn’t even talk… Everyone in our village is in fear. We want the other two accused to be caught and punished. Otherwise people will continue to live in fear that something like this can happen to their girls too,” he said.

The accused’s home is in the village near the teenager’s, and on Saturday, police were deployed at various points there. According to an officer at the local police station, the station’s force of around 30 personnel has been supplemented with 50 police commandos, another 35 police personnel, and 20 CRPF personnel, with the district on alert in anticipation of a flare-up of tensions.

Speaking to the media on Friday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said, “I always say that in places like Lower Assam, Central Assam and Barak, our indigenous people live in fear… All the places where indigenous people are in the minority, in those areas, our people are always living with troubles.”

The girl’s cousin said “it is inevitable that some doubts have started coming to people’s minds about the other community after this incident”, but added that “people of all communities in all 24 villages here are supporting us”.

To allay tensions, residents of Islam’s village have declared that they will “socially boycott” his family.

“We had a meeting on Saturday and collectively decided that we will not allow his body to be buried in our village’s graveyard. We have also decided to isolate and boycott their homes. We have always lived together with the people of different communities and have taken this firm decision so that we can continue living this way,” said Saqlin Mustaq Ahmed, a resident of the accused’s village.

At Islam’s home, his father asked why his son would jump into a pond with handcuffs on. “If he did something, the matter has to go to the courts, not like this,” he said.