50 INDIAN MEN FROM GUWAHATI - THE CAPITAL OF ASSAM - MOLESTED A GIRL IN THE STREET, TODAY 19 JULY 2012

Guwahati: 


A big hoarding in Guwahati has on it photographs and names 
of six men. They have been identified as being part of a mob 
of about 50 men who brutally molested a young girl outside a
 pub in Assam's capital. 


(Guwahati puts up hoarding of men who molested girl: 10 
developments).   


The incident is captured in heartrending detail on a video that 
went viral on the Internet.


For 30 minutes on Monday night the mob snatched at, kicked, 
pulled, beat and stripped the Class XI student. 


It took the police that half an hour to turn up and take her to
her parents. 


In the three days since the incident, only four of her assailants 
have been arrested. (Post Your Comments Here) 


In Assam, the rate of crime against women is a shocking 36.9 
per lakh, almost double the national average at 18.9. 


The young girl's sickening molestation on Monday could well 
have been another number added to that statistic had it not 
been for the video shot by the night reporter of a local TV 
channel, Newslive, which was uploaded on YouTube and went
viral. 


The arrests were made on Thursday, after that happened. The 
warning on the hoarding rings true Also Read Guwahati moles-
tation case: TV reporter Gaurav Jyoti Neog arrested Guwahati 
molestation case: Main accused was in Mumbai, still not arrested 


Also See 25:04 From Guwahati to UP to Karnataka: Are we a 
cruel society? 55:19 


Guwahati's shame: First abuse, then insensitivity .The faces of 
many of the assailants are clearly seen on camera. On the video, 
as the mob of around 50 men chase, beat and strip the girl, it is
clear no one nearby attempted to help her. 


Close-ups of the attackers' faces show no remorse, many wear 
a look of satisfaction. Some even smile as they look directly into
the camera, almost performing for it. 


At one point, some of the attackers attempt to force the girl to
look at the camera, chanting sinisterly. 


The four men arrested are among only 11 people the police has
identified so far. 


The main accused, they say, is Amar Jyoti Kalita, who used to 
work at a company called Amtron and has since been suspended. 


On the video, the part-time actor is seen in a bright red T shirt. 
He is yet to be arrested. The four men who have been arrested 
are, Dhanraj Basfar, a sweeper, Puspendu Das, a shopkeeper, 
Md Habijuddin, and BikashTiwari, who is just 18 years old. 


Apart from Kalita, those identified but not arrested are Rubul Ali,
Debo Das, a man with the surname Baruah, Dipak Dey an auto 
driver, Tinku Deb and Bablu. 


Assam's police chief Jayanta Choudhary says it will take them
some time to track the rest. "There are 12 people that we want 
of which we have identified 11 and of these 11, we have got four. 


The others, we have got the names and hopefully, we will get 
them in the next few days. The whole idea is not just to arrest but
to chargesheet them so that with this kind of evidence conviction 
then is almost certain. 


When you make random arrests of a large number of people, 
then the chances of a case falling through are much more. They 
are evading arrest...they are not in their home. 


So, we will have to find them, track them down and we will get 
them in a couple of days," he said. 


The girl's mother filed a written complaint and the four men 
arrested have been booked under Section 341 (wrongful restraint),
Section 143 (unlawful assembly), Section 294 (obscene act), 
Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), Section 354 (assault or 
criminal force on a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty)
of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). 


Mr Choudhary said the victim, along with another girl and three 
boys had gone to the city 


The fight, now physical, continued outside the pub near an auto-
rickshaw stand, he said, and some bystanders tried to separate 
them but later the situation "got out of control", the police chief 
said, adding, "there are always some low-lives hanging around 
and when they see a girl, they always try to take advantage of 
the situation. 


Now, it's not like they were predators waiting to pounce on any
woman that came in. Initially, they tried to separate the boy and 
the girl who were fighting but later it went out of control." 


The police, he said, first got a call from a hotel nearby at about 
10 O' clock. The Editor of Newslive, the channel that shot the 
video, says his night reporter chanced upon the incident and 
began recording on his mobile phone camera for a while even 
as he called his news desk for a camera team. 


Angry questions now being asked all over the country include - 
why didn't those shooting the video help the girl instead? 


The reporter has claimed that he tried to help, but when the 
mob grew bigger, he stepped back and began recording instead. 


The Editor, Zarir Hussain, squarely blames the police and says,
 "It is no less than gang rape...there were many people on the 
road. 


No one tried to intervene." Cops, he said, had asked to view 
portions of the tape, but had not asked to speak to the reporter 
who witnessed and shot the incident, he said. 


There is outrage over the police's apparent inaction. 


Political leaders across parties have slammed the authorities 
and have demanded strong punishment for the attackers. 


The BJP's Sushma Swaraj tweeted yesterday, "We will not let 
this go unpunished" and said Bijoya Chakravarty, the party 
MP from Guwahati, had met the Director General of Police
on Thursday evening. 


The Congress' Renuka Choudhary also slammed the incident. 
"It's ridiculous for us citizens to sit back and say there have to
be police who have to look after this. 


What has happened to our society...what about their parents...
are their parents going to be put under pressure to call these 
men and talk to them about this? 


They have to be counselled and some good, old-fashioned 
punishment really works. Look at their defiance. They looki
ng into the camera and actually thinking that they are heroes. 


They actually believe that, 'yes, it's ok...I have got my two 
minutes of fame.' There is a social fracture that is happening. 


There seems to be an acceptance for this kind of behaviour. 


There friends are not going to boycott them and people will 
not stop inviting them to their homes or to functions and they
will almost swagger as if there is something heroic that they 
have done," she said. 


Terming it a "shameful act", National Commission for Women
Chairperson Mamta Sharma demanded life term for the culprits
and alleged that the police was "shying away from responsibility.


" NDTV.com users are furious. "They are animals and do not 
deserve to live in society. 


They should be given the harshest of punishment so that no other
 man will ever think of mistreating women," said a surfer, 
Sonika Lama. 


 "Until we don't stop being a mere spectator to these kinds of 
atrocious and outrageous acts and start teaching such people 
lessons, it could be me or you any day and others will be 
watching," added Ramya.


If you can help identify the men in the video, tweet us @ndtv
or sms us at 56388 or email us at feedback@ndtv.com.


The Times of India,
19 July, 2012