‘Deeply Shameful’: Meghalaya, Arunachal CMs Condemn Racial Abuse Of North East Women, Demand Zero Tolerance For Accused

New Delhi: After two cases of racial discrimination against women from the North East surfaced within a span of one week, both the Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu strongly condemned the incidents on Tuesday. One of these incidents took place in Delhi, while another was reported in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur.

"Racial discrimination and sexual harassment of women from the North East should not just be a headline, sensationalized, forgotten and revived every time a fresh incident appears," CM Sangma said.

Taking to social media platform X, he called the alleged molestation of a female doctor from Nagaland posted at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Gorakhpur “deeply shameful." 

"Outraging a woman’s modesty is not what a civilized nation should tolerate. They are your sisters and daughters too. Urge the authorities to take stringent actions against the perpetrators," his statement further read.

Also commenting on incidents of racial discrimination, CM Khandu said, "Such behaviour is absolutely unacceptable and has no place in our society."

CM Sangma had also on Sunday, said in another post on X, that discrimination against people from North East “must stop.”

Woman From Nagaland Sexually Harassed In Gorakhpur

A disturbing incident of sexual abuse and racial discrimination was reported at Gorakhpur recently. A female doctor, currently in her third year of obstetrics and gynecology at AIIMS said she was chased for nearly one and a half kilometres and then molested while she was returning from Orion Mall in Mohaddipur.

Two accused have been arrested in connection with the case, police said.

The complainant is a resident of Nagaland and associated with the Naga doctors' body NAFORD. The organisation of doctors from Nagaland also wrote to the Chief Minister through a post on X, demanding strict action against the accused.

Based on the complaint, a case was reportedly registered at the local police station under sections 74, 296(a), 351(3), and 352 of the IPC. Further legal proceedings in the matter are underway.

Racial Discrimination In Delhi's Malviya Nagar

In another incident, three women from Arunachal Pradesh were allegedly subjected to racial slurs and verbal abuse by their neighbours during a dispute at their residential building in the national capital. A video of the confrontation has surfaced on social media, triggering widespread outrage.

The women had called an electrician at their residence to get an air conditioner installed, on Friday (February 20). During the installation, dust and debris fell onto the first floor, triggering objections from neighbours. An argument ensued, and soon escalated, with the neighbours allegedly hurling derogatory remarks, and targeting the women for their north-eastern identity. The neighbours have been identified as Harsh Singh and Ruby Jain as per the complaint.

It started with the man living downstairs verbally abusing the electrician, following which the girls said they apologised and explained that it was not intentional. However, the argument did not stop there.

Visuals from the altercation showed the accused woman Ruby allegedly accusing the women of engaging in sex work, while the man, namely Harsh, claiming that they run a massage parlour. A police officer can be seen in the video, as he tries to simmer down the situation.

An FIR was reportedly registered at the Malviya Nagar Police Station under Sections 79 (word intended to insult a woman’s modesty), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 3(5) (common intention) and 196 (promoting enmity on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence or language) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

However no arrests have been reported yet.

"Immediately after learning about the matter yesterday, I spoke with the Commissioner of Police, Delhi Police, and sought swift and strict action. The CP is personally in touch with me. The accused are currently absconding, and I have been assured that they will be apprehended at the earliest and dealt with as per law," Arunachal CM Khandu's statement on X read.

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