Two arrested for assault on filmmaker Dominic Sangma in Arunachal

Two men have been arrested for allegedly assaulting National Award-winning filmmaker Dominic Sangma with bamboo sticks on the outskirts of Arunachal Pradesh's capital, police said on September 18.

The incident took place on Wednesday evening along the Jollang-Rakap road after Sangma allegedly intervened when the two men were involved in a confrontation with a group of students from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) at Jote.

A senior police officer said Sangma, who is from Meghalaya and heads the screenwriting department at the FTII campus in Jote, was allegedly attacked after attempting to protect the students.

An FTII security guard and four students were also allegedly assaulted during the incident, police said.

According to Sangma's wife, the filmmaker was out for a walk around 6.30 pm when he noticed the two men, allegedly in an inebriated condition and carrying bamboo sticks, intimidating the FTII students.

“When he intervened, the two men attacked him with bamboo sticks,” she said.

Following a complaint, police registered an FIR at Balijan police station and arrested the two accused, both residents of Rakap village, the officer said.

Sangma is a prominent figure in Northeast cinema and is known for his Garo-language films ‘Rapture’ (Rimdogittanga) and ‘Ma.Ama’.

The Arunachal Film Collective (AFC) condemned the incident and called for a swift and impartial investigation, besides stronger security measures for artists working in the region.

AFC chairperson Bindiya Ete Nalo said the collective stood in solidarity with Sangma and described the alleged assault as an attack on artistic freedom and the region's cultural identity.