Exactly two years since social activist Agnes Kharshiing suffered near-fatal wounds in a brutal assault in East Jaintia Hills, John F. Kharshiing, Agnes’ brother, has expressed sadness that there is still no justice in the case.
Agnes had suffered grievous head wounds and John said today that “she had practically no pulse”.
He thanked the doctors and nursing staff at NEIGRIHMS that helped Agnes pull through after seven weeks of slow and patient treatment but “it is a sad situation that the culprits still roam free.”
The RTI activist and head of the Civil Society Women’s Organisation (CSWO) had suffered injuries after she was allegedly assaulted by a group of people suspected to belong to the coal mining mafia on November 8, 2018.
Agnes and her aide Amita Sangma had gone to the area to take photographs of illegal coal mining and were stopped by the miscreants on their way back.
Nidamon Chullet, who was then a leader of the ruling NPP in East Jaintia Hills, was the chief suspect and surrendered to police in December 2018. One other person had also given himself up to police, while at least six others were arrested.
This year, Chullet was back in the news after donating Rs 2 lakh to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for the fight against Covid-19. He was photographed and publicly thanked by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma who is also the president of NPP.
Agnes had criticised the “political mileage” offered to Chullet through the photo-op. She stated to the media that Chullet was present at her assault. She also slammed the slow progress of the case.
