JOIN USThe lynching to death of a 35-year-old rape accused by a mob in Dimapur in Nagaland is symptomatic of multiple problems gripping our society. The accused was in judicial custody and had not been tried, convicted or sentenced by the court. Indeed, there are doubts over the veracity of the rape charges filed against him. Yet, a mob took it upon itself to punish him.
Around 2,000 people stormed the jail where he was lodged, dragged him out and beat him to death in full public view. Some will justify the mob’s action as motivated by a thirst for justice. They will argue that anger with the shortcomings of India’s criminal justice system and its repeated failure to punish the guilty prompted the mob to take the law into its hands. The frustration is understandable; their action is not.
Deciding whether or not an accused is a criminal and what punishment he deserves is the responsibility of a judge, who draws his conclusions after careful consideration of the law, evidence and arguments. A mob cannot assume the role of a court of law to mete out punishment. When it does, it is indulging in vigilantism. Nothing justifies vigilantism.
What makes this incident all the more reprehensible is that it was prompted not by any sympathy for the victim but by patriarchy and prejudice. It was the question of a local Naga girl being raped by an ‘outsider’ - the accused is an Assamese and was initially thought to be a Bangladeshi immigrant – that triggered the violence. Naga ‘honour’ had to be restored through revenge.
As shocking as the mob’s barbaric behaviour is the failure of the police to prevent the lynching. A probe is necessary to establish why police were reduced to helpless bystanders. Was it ineptitude or deliberate collusion of police personnel with the vigilantism? The lynching took place in broad daylight. What were police personnel doing while the mob dragged the accused from the prison to the clock tower in the heart of Dimapur, a distance of 7 km? The breakdown of the rule of law is worrying.
The incident has triggered protests and violence in the region and is snowballing into a crisis involving Assam and Nagaland, both states that are restive as it is. Vested interests in the region that benefit from violence and unrest can be expected now to fish in troubled waters. Tenuous ceasefires are in place here and these will come under pressure as violence escalates and the security forces seek to douse the fires.