Dimapur lynching: On social media, accused identified as illegal Bangladeshi immigrant.

Reports of the alleged rape of a college student, which led to the lynching of the accused, first appeared on social media, with provocative posts identifying the accused, Syed Sharif Khan, as an illegal Bangladeshi immigrant.
Although the rape allegedly occurred on February 23 and the victim filed an FIR the next morning, local newspapers only reported it a week later. By then the accused, who was arrested on February 24, had been sent to judicial custody.
Both the social media and initial reports by local dailies alleged that Khan was a Bangladeshi. Even state DGP L L Doungel told the media after the lynching on Thursday that he was a suspected illegal Bangladeshi immigrant.
“We are investigating the allegation about the person being a Bangladeshi. As of now we have not completed our investigation,” said Nagaland IGP Wabang Lotha.
The Indian Express reported on Sunday that Khan hailed from a family of Army personnel. The police have also found a driving licence issued to him in Assam.
Those at the forefront of the protests against the alleged rape also focussed on the Bangladeshi angle. In a statement issued to local dailies on March 3, the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) condemned the rape of “yet another Naga girl by a person of Bangladeshi origin in Dimapur”.
NSF president Tongpang Ozukum was quoted as saying that “time and again, Naga civil societies have raised concerns about the danger of harbouring illegal Bangladeshi immigrants… the recent incident is not just a heinous crime, but it is a direct challenge to the entire Naga community.” “We are still trying to ascertain who first put out the news on social media,” said Lotha, who is supervising the investigations.
On March 4, as newspapers reported the alleged rape, students from the girls’ college first took out a procession. By 10 am, hundreds of college students had descended on the streets, and shops had downed their shutters. The protesters marched to the deputy commissioner’s office.

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Source:Indianexpress