The central government has expressed concern over the gruesome lynching of an alleged rapist in the town of Dimapur, and Home Minister Rajnath Singh has asked the Nagaland government to submit a report on how it lost control of the situation.
Additional troops from neighbouring Assam have also been rushed into Dimapur, where tensions are still running high. Nagaland Chief Minister T.R Zeliang said a high-level committee has been constituted to probe into the horrific incident as well as investigate lapses in security.
On Thursday, the local police failed to control thousands of protestors, who stormed into a prison, dragged out an alleged rapist, and thrashed him to death. They dragged his body to the town of Dimapur, seven kilometres from the prison, and strung him up in the public square.
Syed Farid Khan, a trader of second hand cars, was accused of raping a Naga girl on Feb. 23. He was suspected to be an illegal migrant from Bangladesh.
Over the past few days, tensions had been simmering in the town of Dimapur over the rape. Locals had participated in demonstrations to demand tough action against Khan. The demand to deport suspected Bangladeshi infiltrators has also been growing. The situation spiralled out of control on Thursday.
The mob also torched a bus, vehicles, and shops belonging to Bangladeshis including Khan’s. Several people were injured when the police opened fire to disperse the crowd after the gruesome episode had concluded. One person died after sustaining a bullet wound on Thursday night.
The horrific incident has dominated the news since Thursday, and the conversation over the public lynching is also raging on Twitter.
When the public celebrates the mob-justice in a country, its a sign for the judiciary to do some self introspection #Nagaland
— Prasannajeet Pani (@Prasannajeet) March 6, 2015
Well deserved punsihment for rape accused #Dimapur#Nagaland
— Anees Mumtaz (@baba_anees) March 6, 2015
#Nagaland people whatever did against Rapist which is absolutely Wrong, I condemn this & Surprised that there is no #Policing at #Dimapur
— MD.Iqbal Ahmad (@mdiq4u) March 6, 2015
#Nagaland so this girl goes into a hotel with this Muslim guy and spends two days wit him now he is accused for rape #Scandal@AP
— Bagdu_ (@lalitmach22) March 6, 2015
Dont be a fool. Mob justice is the opposite of Justice. #Nagaland#Dimapur
— Pallavi (@PallaviGuptaFE) March 6, 2015