While the entire country is trying to fight the battle against rising COVID-19 cases, there has been another racist attack. A family in Harayana brutally assaulted a girl hailing from the Northeast. 

On May 10, Chong Hoi Misao, a 20-year-old girl from Manipur was attacked by a few locals in Faizpur, Gurugram when she was passing through that area.

East Mojo

Misao was returning after meeting a close friend when she was stopped by an elderly woman who rudely interrupted her from walking through the road, claiming that it was private property.

DH; Representational Image

According to reports, the elderly woman started blurting racially-charged slurs and when Misao requested her to speak politely, the elderly woman got enraged and continued with the verbal abuse. She went on to called Misao “Corona”. 

Misao took a stand and said that she’d be taking this matter to the police. But that didn’t stop the elderly woman from misbehaving, she replied by saying that the police were on “their side”.

Alerted by the argument,  the elderly woman’s family members started hitting Misao with sticks. Misao was so brutally beaten that she was unconscious when locals rescued her and called the police. However, according to Misao’s friend, the police disappointed Misao: 

Just when she thought there would be justice, the police officials told Misao to compromise. 

With an aim to attain justice for all the wrongdoings and in a state of distress, Misao called the North East Support Centre & Helpline. Thankfully, the members reached the place of attack as soon as possible and helped Misao. 

The NESCH contacted the DCP right away and urged to take immediate action. They also shifted Misao to immediate medical care where a woman official took her statement and successfully lodged an FIR.

In a statement by one of the member of the NESCH, Nambu Riamei further mentioned that his team took Miaso to the safe house: 

Since it was late at night, we then took her to our safe house shelter, north of her place, as she was too scared to go back to her place. 

However, the next day they received an FIR on WhatsApp which was incomplete. They then went to the police station and added sections 323( punish those who cause voluntary harm), 34 ( criminal act), 341 (wrongful resistance)  and SC/ST Atrocities Act to complete the FIR. 

Business Insider

Currently, Misao is pursuing her medical treatment and awaiting the results of her CT scans. 

Instead of trying to brew malice and target communities with acts of hatred, we should unite to fight this battle together. Remember everybody is in this situation together, you’re not the only one who’s suffering. 

This article was originally published on EastMojo, and has been republished with permission.