Assamese writer Sikha Sarma has landed herself in trouble yet again. On Thursday evening, Sarma was detained by Dispur police in Guwahati for her alleged objectionable Facebook post on deceased BJP leader Jonali Nath.
In her Facebook post, Sarma allegedly questioned the character of the now-deceased BJP leader, triggering dissatisfaction among several netizens.
Sarma was detained following a letter by the Assam State Commission for Women to the office of the Director General of Police (DGP). The letter stated that Sarma's post was "character assassination of the deceased which is deragotary, humlitating, degrading not only for women but also for a civilized society."
"The Women Commission condemns such acts," the letter added.
The Commission has hence urged the authorities conduct an enquiry into the matter and take necessary steps as per law and submit a report within three days.
It is pertinent to mention that Sikha Sarma had cited the statement given by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) in regards to the murder case, hours after the arrest of the accused.
The accused was identified as one Hasnur Islam. The probe agency, in an official statement, said the accused and the victim were in an illicit relationship for the past two years. The statement, however, didn’t go down well with the family members of the deceased BJP leader.
Dissatisfied by the investigation and the subsequent revelation, the husband of Jonali Nath, identified as Chandra Kumar Nath, filed an FIR against the IGP over his remarks at the press conference.
In the presser, IGP Assam CID Debraj Upadhyaya had said, “The accused has confessed that he killed the woman and dumped her body on the National Highway on Sunday night. The victim had an illicit relationship with the accused for the past two years and was supposed to get married to another woman. To discuss on this and their relationship, the victim had expressed her wiliness to meet with him once. Accordingly, he visited her and they met inside a car. There was a heated argument between the two, after which the accused beat her roughly on the neck, then grabbed her with his bare hands and strangled her to death. The same has been confirmed by the forensic doctors.”
After noticing that she was bleeding and fell unconscious, the accused dumped her body nearby a national highway, the CID official informed.
It may be noted that the body of Jonali Nath was recovered from National Highway No 17 near Shalpara, Krishnai earlier this week.
Nath was the BJP's District Secretary for Goalpara. She was a resident of Matia.
Sources informed that Hasnur had murdered and discarded her body on the national highway before fleeing the spot. The body was spotted by locals on Sunday night following which they informed authorities.
Several injury marks were found on her body, indicating that she was savagely assaulted before her demise. Reportedly, Nath was last seen by locals at a market in the afternoon hours of the ill-fated day.
