Nagaon rape rocks Assam Assembly

The opposition Congress today staged a walkout amidst noisy scenes in the Assembly after ruling BJP MLAs alleged that the main accused in last week's rape-and-murder case of a minor was a Congress worker.

The Congress also demanded an adjournment motion to discuss the rape and murder case, which was later rejected.

Disallowing the motion, Deputy Speaker Dilip Kumar Paul said the Assembly and the state are ashamed of the rising incidents of rape and asked the government to consider AIUDF MLA Aminul Islam's proposal to bring in a strict law to deal with it as soon as possible.

"We need to think if such criminals should live on this earth no not," Paul also said.

After the Question Hour, Leader of the Opposition Debarata Saikia said Assam has been witnessing rising cases of crime against women after the BJP government came to power in the state and the last week's killing of a minor by burning her after rape in Nagaon district is a serious matter.

During arguments by Saikia and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, the legislators of both the BJP and the Congress started shouting at each other over the issue.

The Congress MLAs demanded death penalty for the culprits, while the BJP members alleged that the main accused is a Congress worker and displayed newspaper copies in support of their claims.

On this, Congress walked out of the House, following which Patowary announced the names of the accused who belong to the same religion.

AIUDF MLA Mamun Imdadul Haque Chawdhury said a criminal does not have any religion and there should be strictest punishment against such criminals.

Another AIUDF MLA Aminul Islam said the names were taken to malign one particular religion.

Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said if a catalogue of rape accused in the last 10-12 years is made, a pattern could be seen.

The deputy speaker then rejected the adjournment motion brought in by the Congress and asked the government to take urgent steps to prevent such cases in future.