IT News
Imphal, Mar 10:
The murder of 55-year-old Nongthombam Ingocha on March 6, 2024, at Langthabl Lep Mayai Leikai in Imphal West has sparked anger among the disabled people of the state. The State Platform of Disabled People Organizations (SPDPO) in Manipur, an apex body of the disabled people bodies of the state today, condemns the inability of the state authority to protect and safeguard the lives of persons with disabilities. The late Ingocha son, of late Mani, was a physically handicapped person after his leg had been wounded in an accident some 10 years ago. He was found brutally assaulted and murdered in his own room. Police have arrested three people in connection with the murder and are in police custody after being remanded. One of the three suspects is a Havildar in the state police department.
“Government machinery has failed to protect the lives of people with disabilities. Statutory bodies like the Manipur Human Rights Commission and the State Commission for Persons with Disability are silent about the brutal killing of persons with disabilities, indicating that we are not safe in society,”, Chief Advisor of the SPDPO, Dr. Sapam Jasubanta, told reporters at the Manipur Press Club today.
Advisor of the Disabled Development Association Manipur (DDAM), Dr. Kiran Yendrembam, while expressing anger and anguish, told reporters that the government should probe the killing by either a judicial inquiry or a judicial inquiry to find the motive behind the killing.
“From the local source, we have been informed that the three accused were frequent visitors to the room of late Ingocha, and taking advantage of his physical handicap, his room has been converted into vendors for playing cards and drinking wines,” Kiran said, adding that such torturous acts should be protected by the state machinery under the Rights to Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and also under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Besides this, the state authority needs to investigate the motive behind the killing as late Ingocha, though physically disabled, and owned land property.
“Among the three accused, arrested, and remanded under police custody, one happened to be a Havildar in the state police department; whether the three of them intentionally killed either by themselves or under the instigation of someone needs to be properly investigated,” Dr. Kiran, who is also an advocate, told the reporters.
Dr. Sapam Jasobanta, the Chief Advisor of SPDPO, who is a visually impaired person, questions the safety of persons with disabilities if police personnel are involved in the heinous crime against them.
“How could a person train to protect the people’s lives involved in such criminal activities? It seems that there is a lapse in the training of the Manipur Police if such crimes are committed by the personnel,” Dr. Sapam Jasubanta told reporters.
“We, the disabled people, would like to draw the kind attention of the government to ensure the security of persons with disabilities by taking up punitive measures and by awarding appropriate punishment to all those involved in the killing of Ingocha,” Dr. Jasobanta said.
He added that persons with disabilities are also contributing to society, and without their participation, there will be a hindrance to the development of society.
