Accused of rape, Meghalaya cop sacked

A Meghalaya Police officer accused of raping a school girl two years ago has been sacked, an official said Tuesday.

"The government has terminated Sub-Inspector S.N. Roy's service after an inquiry proved beyond any shred of doubt that he committed an act which amounts to moral turpitude," Mariahom Kharkrang, district police chief of East Khasi Hills, told IANS.

Roy and his accomplices allegedly gang-raped a 13-year-old school girl at a city hotel here March 17, 2011.

The sacking order against Roy is significant in the wake of another Meghalaya Police officer, Nurul Islam, being accused of raping two minor sisters. Islam is absconding after he escaped from police custody.

Islam had allegedly raped a 14-year-old girl in Ampati police station March 13. On March 31, he raped the victim's 17-year-old sister at gunpoint in their house.

The officer had threatened to kill both the girls if they informed anyone.

Incidents of crime against women, especially rape, have been showing an upward trend in Meghalaya, traditionally known for its matrilineal society and respect for women. Meghalaya government statistics reveal that in 2012, 255 crimes crimes were reported against women, of which 164 were rapes.