The All Garo Hills Napak Mahari Chra Association (AGHNMCA) has condemned the police raid on the residence of the mother of Bernard N Marak, the BJP vice president and Tura MDC.
Bernard’s property was raided by police on July 22 and the authorities have stated that it was operating as a brothel, with children found on the scene. After fleeing the state, Bernard was arrested earlier this week in Uttar Pradesh and brought to Meghalaya.
While the AGHNMCA said in a release today that the police investigation should go ahead against Bernard and the law take its own course, it condemned the raid of his mother’s house.
The release described Bernard’s mother as a widow who lived alone. According to Garo tradition, when a man marries, he leaves his maternal home in toto and, therefore, there was no justification in the police raid on the house.
In addition, the clan association said that the raid, “without a warrant” was a case of “mental harassment”, which has created a fear psychosis and is unacceptable.
“Whatever materials were seized from his mother’s house during the raid should be returned immediately,” AGHNMCA said.