Shillong, July 25: The Assembly Committee on Women’s Empowerment has taken exception to rescuing of five minors from the farm house of BJP leader Bernard Marak in Garo Hills.
The chairperson of the panel, Ampareen Lyngdoh said the social welfare department has been asked to submit a report on the matter on August 8.
“We have discussed briefly the conditions of the five minors in the recent raid in Tura. We have requested the social welfare department to come back to us on August 8, to tell us the status of the victims who once again have been seen to have been oppressed and crimes have occurred against these minors,” Ampareen said.
Police had claimed that a prostitution racket in the private resort run by the BJP MDC was busted leading to the arrest of 73 persons and rescue of 5 children besides seizure of liquors and unused contraceptives.
Marak had denied running a brothel at ‘Rimpu Bagan’ and claimed that he is not evading arrest but wants to be away as police are planning to gun him down.
To a question on claims and counter claims, Ampareen said, “Don’t confuse the politics and the crime that has occurred. Segregate these two things. You may have your political battles but you have no business engaging in anything with minor children or girl children.”
Lyngdoh said, “We will be able to segregate fact from fiction. I have no idea why people are running around, why all these accusations and counter accusations are going on but I only know one thing you cannot hide or you cannot take away a fact of five minors being held hostage, engage in sexual engagement as political or non-political.”
“To me you have hounded a young child, a girl child, to me that is relevant at this point of time. You have no business to violate the rights of a young girl child and I have been put in this position to fight for this child or those children’s rights and that is exactly what I am going to do, I am going to find out if it is a fact or fiction,” she said.
The committee has asked the DIG Eastern Range to enquire into the wellbeing of the children.
