The woman, Shorna Choudhury said the commission had yesterday advised her to withdraw the case as it could pose problems for her in the near future.
The HNLC’s publicity secretary Sainkupar Nongtraw in a statement issued here today said the commission’s advice to withdraw the FIR would “only aggravate the oppression faced by the downtrodden in the hands of the high and mighty.” He added, “As a panel which is looking after welfare of women, the commission should have supported Choudhury. It is ridiculous that they refrained from doing so.”
He said this demonstrated that the commission was just a “puppet” in the hands of the government. The outfit urged women’s organisations to launch a “social movement” to counter the growing oppression of women. “As of now, the biggest challenge is to change the mindset and attitude of the society,” Nongtraw said.
GPO inspector of Shillong, Bijit Dutta, and senior superintendent of post office, were arrested but were immediately released as it was a bailable case. They later filed a counter FIR against Choudhury.
Choudhury said she would not withdraw the case and would carry on with her fight for justice.
She alleged that on February 15, Dutta had manhandled her and the inspector tore her jacket. She was allegedly dragged to the second floor of the office and taken to the SSP’s room. The SSP allegedly snatched her mobile phone before pushing her out of his chamber.