Nagaland mob lynching: MHA mum on report suggesting ‘consensual sex’

Guwahati/New Delhi: The ministry of home affairs on Wednesday rejected reports in a section of the media that claimed the Nagaland government had sent a report to the ministry indicating that the Dimapur incident was a case of consensual sex. Nagaland Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang, who met Union home minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Wednesday, said, “We cannot comment right now because the investigation is going on. We are neither saying it is a rape case, nor are we saying it was consensual sex.”

The CM said the focus is on identifying the culprits behind the lynching and strict action would be taken against them; 45 people have so far been booked.

Meanwhile, the MHA issued an advisory warning of attacks on people from the Northeast states after intelligence reports indicated that some radical organisations were trying to create communal polarisation and ethnic tension using the lynching incident.

The advisory asks the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Haryana to be fully alert and ensure the security of people from the Northeast. A substantial population of people from the Northeast live in cities like Bengaluru, Pune and Gurgaon, prompting the MHA advisory to these states.

The MHA sent the advisory after it found that a misinformation campaign about the Dimapur incident was being conducted on social media. “We suspect that the social media is being used to create tension,” an MHA official said.

The Centre also told the states to deploy adequate security forces in places where a sizeable number of Northeast people live.