On 28th April, 20-year old Champa Chettri went missing from the Tinsukia district of Assam. Days later, her charred body was discovered floating in the Dihing river near Lama Gaon.
Reports said that Chettri was kidnapped and raped, before her body was burnt and thrown in the river. Police have arrested two suspects.
Incidentally, April 28 was the same date as that of the infamous Kerala rape case.
Champa’s family raised a hue and cry in the Margharite village, where she lived with them, when she failed to return home from the beauty parlour where she worked. On May 3, a charred and decomposing body, identified as that of Chettri was recovered from Dihing river after local residents spotted it.
The case has sparked wide spread protests across Assam. But the complete lack of media coverage is yet another reminder of how little northeast India is covered by the national, mainstream news media.
And there’s been outrage over it on social media also:
The two accused, Biswajit Chettri and Moinul Ali, both from Assam’s Ledo region, have been detained by police and charged under Sections 366,376 and 342/34 of the IPC, local Assamese media reported.