IMPHAL, April 01: The Khoupum Area Rongmei Lu Phom (RLP) and the mothers of the Khoupum rape victims have demanded life imprisonment and exemplary punishment for the rapist.
Speaking to media persons at Taosemjang Village in Khoupum, Convenor of RLP Daya Riamei said that on the fateful day, the four victims were returning from school when they heard gun shots and hid inside a nearby house fearing for their lives.
When the gun shots ceased, they came out of the house and were confronted by two men with arms who allegedly identified themselves as defected cadres of the Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF). As soon as the two cadres saw them they started firing on the ground near their feet so that they could run away. Then, the two cadres immediately got hold of them on gunpoint and dragged them inside the quarter of the Chowkidar of IFCD and raped them, she added.
She continued that later, one of the armed cadres put the trigger on his head with the girl in his grip, saying that they will die together. He immediately shot himself and was dead at the spot but the girl managed to dodge and escape the bullet from hitting her.
The other cadre used one of the girls as a human shield and escaped from the scene in a vehicle. “He is now at Sajiwa jail and a chargesheet has been filed against him. Such incident has not been happened in the history of Khoupum and we strongly condemned it and we are against the statement that the culprit is juvenile,” Daya said.