Shillong, Oct 13: Shillong plunged into shock and panic when two teenagers went ‘missing’ from two separate localities in the space of 24 hours. Although they were later found safe and sound, the two cases have become the talk of the town.
A 14-year-old girl went missing from her home in Umpling Dong Shaneng on Sunday evening, prompting a massive search by police and the community. She was found in a house in the same locality at around 3:30am.
According to Umpling Rangbah Shnong Sanwat Fair Pyngrope, the girl was found in the company of a boy, with whom she was reportedly acquainted. After a medical examination, which revealed no signs of harm, she was handed to her family.
Panic struck again today after a picture of a missing 17-year-old girl who disappeared from Mawlai Nongkwar was circulated.
According to the mother, the teenager had gone to her friend’s house on Sunday even though she was not granted permission. When she did not return, the family informed the Dorbar Shnong and an FIR was later lodged at the police station today morning.
While the search was on, the mother received a phone call informing her that the daughter had stayed at a friend’s house in Mawlai Mawiong.
What has heightened fear and panic among parents and guardians of children in the city has been the death of three minors in the space of less than a month.
The first to occur was that of a 4-year-old from Nongrah, whose body was found at an under-construction building in the same neighbourhood in September. A minor boy from the neighbourhood admitted a connection to the tragedy. Police today announced that the child died by homicidal drowning but the motive behind the incident is still being ascertained.
Then, on October 9, a 7-year-old boy was found dead under mysterious circumstances in the same area of Shillong. No arrest has been made so far.
Less than 24 hours after that, the body of a 13-year-old girl was recovered near a village in Ri-Bhoi. The next day police arrested a suspect, who has reportedly admitted to the crime.
In the midst of these cases were two other false alarms concerning children – one of an alleged assault in the Jaiaw neighbourhood and another of theft committed against a minor. Both cases proved to be false, police discovered, but they too had their part in the increased sense of insecurity pervading the state.
These chains of events have stunned the community as rumours abound of children falling victims to ‘Menshohnoh’, allegedly involved in human sacrifice. Persistent superstitions such as these have led, in the past, to mob lynchings of those suspected of the practice, whereby humans are supposedly sacrificed to the mythical thlen for economic prosperity.
East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police Vivek Syiem today dismissed the menshohnoh claims and said it exists only in Khasi folklore. He said such claims are rooted in enmity and jealousy rather than supernatural causes.
