Nagaland: Members of a mob who lynched rape suspect must be brought ..
Members of a mob who lynched an undertrial suspected of rape in Dimapur, Nagaland must be brought to justice urgently.
Syed Farid Khan had been arrested for allegedly raping a woman in Dimapur on 24 February. According to local police, he was dragged out from the Dimapur central jail - where he was being held in pre-trial detention - by a mob of around 4000 people. He was then stripped, beaten, pelted with
stones, and made to walk naked towards the centre of Dimapur town, seven kilometres away. Syed Farid Khan succumbed to his injuries along the way. The mob then dragged his body to a clock tower and displayed it.
"This is a serious lapse in the criminal justice system," said Shemeer Babu, Amnesty International India's Programmes Director. "The Nagaland government, which is probing this gruesome incident, must ensure that every person who was part of the mob is brought to justice. Failure to do so will
send the message that anyone can commit outrageous abuses and attempt to justify them as an expression of public anger.
"Nagaland authorities must uphold the rule of law. Violence against women needs to be tackled with swift and effective responses from the state, not with barbarism by self appointed vigilantes."