News Analysis India

Tag: Morigaon district

  • Assam man, accused of raping 3 minors, shot by police after alleged attempt to flee

    By Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: A 50-year-old Assam man, accused of raping three minor girls, was shot in the leg by the police when he allegedly attempted to flee from their custody.

    The incident occurred in central Assam’s Morigaon district on Wednesday night when the accused, Rajani Kanta Daimary, was being taken to his home during the investigation of a case registered against him.

    The police said the accused sustained bullet injuries in his leg and was admitted to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital in Guwahati.

    Morigaon Superintendent of Police Aparna N said a case was earlier registered regarding the rape of three minor girls and during the examination of the victims, it emerged that there was a fourth victim.

    “During his interrogation about the fourth victim, he mentioned that he had kept her undergarment at his house. To recover it, a team of the police was taking him to the place,” Aparna said.

    “When the vehicle slowed down on the way, he jumped off it and tried to escape, forcing the police to resort to firing. Two shots were fired,” the SP added.

    Earlier, after the families of the three victims had filed an FIR, the police registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

    On learning that a case was registered against him, the accused had gone into hiding but the police arrested him on Wednesday.

  • How extreme poverty is forcing these Assam villagers to sell kidneys

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Driven by acute poverty, the locals of an Assam village are selling off their kidneys.

    The racket came to light when some people of Dakshin Dharamtul village in Morigaon district nabbed an “agent”, along with three others, and handed them over to the police. Some 30 people from the village are believed to have sold off a kidney each so far.

    About half a dozen villagers came on record to say they sold off their kidneys. Some took the step to repay loan. Some did it for the treatment of family members. The villagers are mostly farmers and daily wagers and they have been badly affected by the pandemic.

    Some people, who sold off kidneys, said they were taken to Kolkata where they underwent surgeries. The police confirmed the racket.

    “Two people, including a woman, have been arrested. The woman is in police custody,” Morigaon SP Aparna Natarajan told The New Indian Express.

    She said the police did not have any specific information on the number of people who had sold off their kidneys. She said the police were talking to the villagers and collecting details.

    “We have shared some details with the state authorisation committee for organ transplantation which is the competent authority to approve any kind of organ transplantation. Our investigation is on,” the SP added.

    The alleged agent, Lilimai Bodo from Guwahati, was nabbed when she had visited the village two days ago in search of prospective kidney sellers. On learning about her presence in the village, an aggrieved family zeroed in on her. The family had not received the promised amount from her.

    The accused would lure the poor people with Rs 4-5 lakh but deduct up to Rs 1.5 lakh as commission, locals said.

    Krishna Das had sold off a kidney to repay the bank loan. She was promised Rs 4.5 lakh by the agent but she received Rs 3.5 lakh. “I had to sell it off to run my family. My husband has been down with illness for long and I had to repay the bank loan,” the woman said.

    Srikanta Das, another villager, had received Rs 3.5 lakh although he was promised Rs 5 lakh. “I sold off a kidney for my son’s treatment. I had no other option,” Das said.