The State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) has condemned the brutal gang rape of four minor girls earlier this month near the Shillong Bypass.
The gang rape had occurred on August 8. The letter of condemnation by the SCPCR chairperson IM Syiem was dated August 12 but was only shared with the media today.
Syiem said that children, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, are particularly vulnerable because of “technological access to unsafe sites, lockdown depression, anxiety about their future and other socio-psychological dysfunctions.”
Six men have been arrested for being involved in the heinous crime of gang rape of three minor girls. All of them were identified as the criminals by the survivors.
It may be noted that the crime failed to draw society’s condemnation with several legal practitioners expressing surprise at the silence. They warned that silence from the larger society only gives the rapists impunity and the silence encourages the stigmatization of the survivors. In crimes of this kind, the victims sorely need a morale booster and public expression of solidarity because they are often blamed for the crime instead of the perpetrators, they said.
