Manipuri woman's kin, activists demand CBI probe into death

Several rights organisations and the family of AS Reingamphi, the 21-year-old Manipuri woman who was found dead under mysterious circumstances in her rented house on May 29, today accused the Delhi police of shoddy investigation and demanded a CBI inquiry in the case.
Reingamphi's cousins Awungshi Chirmiyo and Thotreithem had filed a plea in the high court on August 8 demanding a CBI probe in the case. The next hearing is slated to be on October 10.
Speaking to reporters here, Binalaksmi Neparam, Founder of Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network, said the discrimination men and women from the north-east have to face is well-known, but in this case even the role of the police has been disappointing.

"Even after so much uproar over women safety and crime against women following the December 16 gangrape, police refused to file an FIR in this case. It took around 300 people to camp outside the Malviya Nagar police station for more than 24 hours for the police to lodge a formal complaint," Neparam claimed.
A.S Chirmiyo, the victim's brother, said that she wounds on the face, nose and legs which the police claimed to have been caused by rats.
"They also claimed that it is a case of suicide by some toxic or poisonous substance but the two postmortems (done under public pressure) and the viscera report issued by the Forensic Science Laboratory found no traces of poison or drugs in body," he said.

Chirmiyo's lawyer in the case, Amy Shukla said, "Although the case was handed over to the Crime Branch after public outcry, they have not been able to establish the cause of death so far.
"Her landlord and his brother-in-law had antagonistic relationship with her and the latter had been stalking her but the investigators had been avoiding the issue," he alleged.
Shing Lai, President of Tangkhul Student Union, an organisation of North-East students of Delhi said, "We demand urgent attention and directions of the honourable High Court in the case.