Two weeks after the Dimapur lynching incident, the CBI has been asked to investigate the case by a harried Nagaland Government. On 5th March, Syed Farid Khan, accused of rape, was dragged out of the Dimapur Central Jail, stripped of his clothes and lynched to death. Farid, who hailed from Karimganj district, Assam had been accused of raping a tribal college student on 24th February. He was in judicial custody when the incident took place.
As the situation remained tense in the following days, the police imposed a curfew with reports of widespread looting. Internet and SMS services were also blocked as a precautionary measure.
In a further twist, the Nagaland Government told the Centre, “it appeared to be a case of consensual sex” in contrast to the Nagaland Police claim that the student had been raped.
Syed Farid Khan was the son of the deceased Sirajudding Khan, who served in the Indian Army’s Military Engineering Service for more than 20 years. Farid’s two elder brothers Kamaluddin and Jamaluddin too are serving soldiers in the Assam Regiment.
The case has exposed the widening fault-lines in the state. The CBI will now reinvestigate the case.
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