Sikkim Students Demand Justice in Rape-Cum-Murder Case of 19-Yr-Old

Gangtok, November 13, 2019:

Students of Government colleges and Sikkim University gathered at the MG Marg in support of the girl who was murdered in Machong, and demanded justice for the victim.

From MG Marg, they went to District Administrative Center for further demonstrations as protests are not allowed at the MG Marg. They also mourned for the victim during the protest.

It may be mentioned here that a 19-year-old girl from Machong, East Sikkim, was brutally raped and murdered on 8 November, 2019.

According to the DSR report, she was last seen at 3 pm, when she went to a nearby forest, around 0.5 miles from her house to acquire firewood.

When she did not return home later, her father went out to search for her but found her lying unconscious, but alive in the jungle. She was brought in by him to the Public Healthcare Center at around 6:54 pm on the 8th of November.

The girl was declared dead on arrival, following which her body was forwarded to STNM hospital for further examination. Initially, the Medical Officer allegedly stated that she had sustained a head injury which caused her death.

The post mortem later showed that the cause of her death was reportedly strangulation and head injury, with visible sexual assault.

The case has now been registered under Section 302 (murder) and according to a senior police officer, even 376 (rape) but that remains to be a concrete fact. Earlier, the case was booked under Section 174 (unnatural death). Social media outrage has blown the case wide and there are outpourings of grief and anger from citizens who demand swift justice.

The East Sikkim District Police has been posting updates on the case on their Facebook account, where they have stated the various Sections that it has been booked under (376/302/201) and have asked citizens to be patient as they investigate it.

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