Police were criticised by the Meghalaya State Commission for Women today for failing to arrest the man suspected of murdering his two children in Nongrah last month when he assaulted his wife in the days prior.
Joefreeson Jana is accused of brutally murdering his two young children in the Wahktieh forest on May 30. Just three days before this hateful crime, Jana’s wife had filed a complaint against him with police, accusing him of assaulting her while she was on the way to work.
MSCW chairperson Phidalia Toi told reporters today that “police did not take any action but only said that it was a family dispute” that required counselling because Jana was an alcoholic.
“We will write to Home Minister Lahkmen Rymbui and we will insist that this kind of insensitivity and lethargic habit of the law enforcers should be done away with as we cannot accept this,” Toi said, adding that women who are the victim of crimes often fail to file police complaints because they are treated in such a manner.
Had the police arrested Jana on May 27, he may not have gone on to murder the two innocents, she reasoned.
“The finding of the women’s commission is that there was gross negligence of the police to take action against the accused,” Toi said and the commission has recommended strong action against the police for failing to act.
