Brick kiln worker rapes 16-yr-old girl in Manipur

IMPHAL: A 16-year-old girl, who is appearing for the ongoing Class XI final examination, was allegedly raped by a brick kiln worker on Saturday night near her Irengband village residence in Thoubal district. An angry mob destroyed the house of the accused on Sunday.

The girl's family alleged that accused Huidrom Sanjoy (28), who stays in the same locality, taking advantage of the fact that the girl was alone at home, raped the minor at around 11pm on Saturday night.

Manipur has been witnessing spiralling crime against women in the last few years, prompting hordes of women's bodies to intensify their campaign against the menace. According to Imphal-based Women Action for Development (WAD), over 300 cases of violence against women - including rape, rape and murder, molestation, trafficking, brutal physical assault, abduction, intimidation, abandonment and immolation - took place in the state last year.

Locals said Sanjoy, who worked at the medium-scale brick farm owned by the victim's family, was well acquainted with the family. He is married and has two children.

Quoting the girl, her mother said that Sanjoy called the former on her mobile phone on Saturday night around 10pm asking her to step out of the house and later raped her at a deserted place nearby.

The family members came to know the incident on Sunday morning when the victim narrated her ordeal to them. As news of the rape spread across the village, irate locals caught Sanjoy and began quizzing him about the incident, but he managed to flee. A manhunt was immediately launched and Sanjoy was found hiding in a nearby drain. He was pulled up by a team of policemen that arrived at the spot.

The police had to disperse the mob by firing teargas canisters and mock bombs. Thereafter, the mob destroyed Sanjoy's house but the situation was brought under control after the arrival of a police reinforcement team.

The police, who registered an FIR case against Sanjoy, took the victim and the accused to the Imphal-based Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) for medical examination. Sanjoy was produced before the chief judicial magistrate (Thoubal), who remanded him in police custody till Thursday, enabling the cops to interrogate him.

The irate locals, meanwhile, formed a joint action committee (JAC) to ensure justice to the girl.