Locals protest against the gang rape of a 14-year-old girl by three men in Dhing area of ​​Nagaon district on August 23, 2024. | Photo credit: PTI

A minor girl was allegedly gang-raped while returning home from school in the evening in Nagaon district of central Assam on August 22.

The incident in Dhing, a minority-dominated area, sparked outrage among locals, who demanded indefinite closure of shops and business premises until strict action is taken against the perpetrators.

Three men are suspected of dumping the 10th-grade girl on the side of the road after the crime. Police have arrested one of them and are looking for two others.

Some locals found the semi-conscious woman about an hour after her alleged rape and informed the police. The police took her to a local health centre, which referred her to a hospital in the district headquarters of Nagaon, about 25 kilometres away.

The incident led to a blockade throughout the town of Dhing and hundreds of people took to the streets demanding exemplary action against those involved.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma sent Information Minister Pijush Hazarika and Director General of Police Gyanendra Pratap Singh to Dhing to take stock of the situation. “Strict legal action will be taken against the culprits,” Mr Singh said.

The chief minister later told reporters that this was not the first such incident in Dhing. “This is the 23rd such incident since the Lok Sabha elections in which certain people have been involved. They are getting a lot of support after the assembly elections,” he said.

He said the indigenous people live in fear wherever they have become a minority in Assam. “Unfortunately, where we are in the majority, people refuse to accept this or remain indifferent. Whenever anything happens in Assam, there is a tendency to make it an Assamese-Bengali conflict or something against the Marwaris,” the chief minister said.

He said it was high time that the indigenous people recognized who was friend and who was foe.