Home » Girl kidnapped for force marriage escapes; complaint lodged to police, accused persons still not arrested

Girl kidnapped for force marriage escapes; complaint lodged to police, accused persons still not arrested

by Rinku Khumukcham
0 comment 4 minutes read

IT News
Imphal, Dec 19:

A girl presently doing PhD at JNU New Delhi braves a cheater friend’s attempt to marry her forcibly by kidnapping her on the day when Manipur was observing Nupi Lal Day as a mark of respect to courageous women of Manipur. The girl from Thongju Assembly Constituency complained about the matter at Singjamei Police station on the following day but the accused kidnapper and two others who help him detain her in a room were still not arrested till today.
The person who tried to marry her by forcibly detaining for a night in a locked room at Mayang Imphal Konchak is identified as Rajkumar Master Meitei, aged about 35 years , son of RK Sanajaoba of Mayang Imphal Konchak leikai, Imphal West district. The other two who help him detain the girl were identified as M. Landhoni (Aunty of the accused) and one Angom Sumant, as per the statement of the victim girl.
In conservative Manipuri society, the act was not less than a rape crime as it spoils the dignity and modesty of a girl. The girl was also reportedly threatened to rape and murder or ‘Keina Katpa’ (another form of force marriage) if she refused the detention as elopement.
Five civil society organizations Apunba Manipur Kanba Ima Lup (AMKIL), Extrajudicial Execution Victim Families Association (EEVFAM), GirlUp_Manipur, Mingsel Foundation, Human Rights Alert (HRA), and Women in Governance Network (WinG) strongly condemn the kidnapping attempt of the girl doing PhD at JNU New Delhi and stand with her to fight for justice and to save the dignity of women.
Executive Director of HRA Babloo Loitongbam while speaking to media persons today at the office of HRA said that such act is a common phenomenon happening in Manipur’s society and it often spoiled the life and dignity of a girl. He condemned it in the strongest term.
A joint statement of the five civil society organizations strongly condemned the kidnapping, confinement, threat to rape, threat to murder, threat to “Keina Katpa” and forced elopement of the girl doing PhD scholar of JNU, against her.
According to the CSOs, the girl was called out by RK Master on 12 December 2021 on the pretext of having lunch at Lilong. She accepted the invitation as they were well acquainted. Instead, he took her to his aunty’s house at Mayang Imphal, near his house. Right after lunch, to her utter surprise and without any prior indications, Master’s family coaxed her to marry Master. She outrightly rejected the proposal. But the family insisted and persuaded her to accept the proposal. As the matter escalated, she tried to leave the house but they instead snatched her phone and locked her in the house.
According to the CSOs based on the statement of the girl, on the instigation of other members of the family, they, including Master, forcefully silenced her, assaulted her, and even subjected her to threats of murder and rape. She protested the wrongful confinement, which caught the attention of the neighbourhood. But to her utter surprise, none of them came to her rescue and trivialized the matter as a family scuffle. Even as she vehemently protested, the family and folks of the locality threatened her that they will perform the “Keina Katpa” ritual and publicly humiliate her. Fortunately, she survived the ordeal and managed to reach home the next day. She immediately filed a police complaint at the Singjamei Police station and the investigation is going on.
“As civil society organisation concerned with gender justice, we are shocked to notice the insensitivity of the family members and local community to the plight of the girl when she protested the forced kidnapping. We strongly denounce the normalization of marriage through abduction and systemic violence against women. This is a total denial of an individual’s consent in determining her most important decision in life and a serious affront to the human right to the women. Archive patriarchal traditions of expecting women to submit to the pressure of so-called “social norms” should be consigned to the flames of history and we should rebuild an egalitarian society where men and women enjoy equality with the same rights and dignity”, Babloo told reporters.

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