SHILLONG: Meghalaya police have arrested three individuals from Assam for their alleged involvement in the rape of two minor girls and assault on two boys during the annual Chenga Benga Mela festivities near Garobadha in South West Garo Hills on April 16.
Police sources told a Shillong-based news portal that the trio, residents of South Salmara district in Assam, were arrested on Monday and Tuesday.
The authorities apprehended two suspects at the Meghalaya border on Monday and the third individual was captured while trying to escape on a Meghalaya-bound bus from Assam on Tuesday evening.
A police official told the news portal that they were in the process of bringing the suspect to Meghalaya, indicating the anticipation of further arrests.
The two arrested individuals have been granted five-day police custody by the court, while the third suspect, currently in transit, is scheduled to appear before the court today, police told the portal.
Meanwhile, condemnation has resounded from various quarters, with demands for justice for the two minor girls and the boys.
On Tuesday, the Meghalaya unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Meghalaya Linguistic Minority Development Forum (MLMDF) joined in, calling for justice and appropriate compensation for the victims.
In a separate incident, Shillong Police took into custody three individuals and detained a minor in connection with an alleged gang-rape of a young woman in September 2023, in the city’s Nongthymmai locality.
The perpetrators, identified as Modify Dkhar (20), Trustful Dkhar (20), and Emkilang Shyrmang (18), residents of Syrpoo-Sutnga area in Khliehriat, East Jaintia Hills, were apprehended.
Additionally, police disclosed that a fourth accused, a minor, has also been detained.
Notably, the assailants purportedly not only sexually assaulted the survivor but also recorded a video of the heinous act, subsequently disseminating it online.
The survivor, a Madanrting native, chose to come forward following the emergence of the viral video, recounting her harrowing experience.
She alleged that she was gang-raped by the four accused at a rented residence in Nongthymmai last September.
