Shillong, Sep 16: The Meghalaya State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MSCPCR) has directed police to urgently expedite a probe into the murder of a 4-year-old girl.
It also called for a thorough inquiry to ensure justice and provide closure for the family.
The victim, who had mysteriously gone missing on August 14, was found murdered about 100 meters away from her home in Nongrah Nonglum the next day. Her body was found face down, and a stone weighed down on her back lying in stagnated rainwater on the ground floor of an under-construction building.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Superintendent of Police (City) Herbert Kharkongor has been formed to probe the murder.
“Swift and thorough investigation is vital, not only for justice to be delivered but also to provide the bereaved family some measure of closure from this painful and tragic episode,” the commission said.
MSCPCR officials also visited the bereaved family, offering support and overseeing procedures at NEIGRIHMS, including the autopsy. It expressed its anguished and condoled the family
It also issued a strong reminder that circulating videos or images of children in distress on social media is not only highly insensitive and unethical but constitutes violation of the Juvenile Justice Act and punishable with imprisonment.
Meanwhile, a sea of people attended the funeral of the child at the Nongthymmai Pohkseh cemetery. Speakers at the funeral, including representatives of the Nongrah Dorbar Shnong, relatives and community members, urged the authorities to ensure that the culprit (s) of the crime be arrested and punished.
The Synjuk ki Nongsynshar Shnong Nongthymmai Pyllun, a body of traditional heads, also held a silent march to the residence of the victim with placards demanding justice.
B Nari, headman of Nongrim Hills and leader of the Synjuk, reminded that similar heinous crimes had occurred in the past in various parts of Shillong and its outskirts. He urged the government to take concrete steps to prevent such incidents in the future and announced that the Synjuk will meet with the government to pressure them to take immediate action.
