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Rape-accused Meghalaya legislator nabbed after eleven-day hunt

IANS

Meghalaya legislator Julius Kitbok Dorphang, who had been hiding for 11 days after being accused of raping 14-year-old girl but was eventually arrested late on Friday from Assam's Guwahati, was set to five days police custody by a court here on Saturday.

The Court of District and Session Judge, Ehboklang Kharumnuid on Saturday sent the 53-year-old Independent legislator to police remand.

Police have already intimated Assembly Speaker Abu Taher Mondal about the arrest.

Dorphang, a chairman of the outlawed secessionist outfit Hynniewtrep National liberation Council had surrendered in 2007. He had successfully contested the Assembly elections in 2013 and was supporting the Congress-led Meghalaya United Alliance Government.

In fact, he is the first sitting legislator in Meghalaya to be arrested for his involvement in such heinous crime.

"After a gap of nearly 11 days, we finally nabbed him (Dorphang) from an Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) in Guwahati at around 11:00 pm in connection with the alleged rape case against a minor girl," Shillong city police chief Vivek Syiem told journalists here.

Meghalaya Police have registered a case against the Independent legislator under sections of the Indian Penal Code, the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, and the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act.

Syiem said that police had requested to the court to add a more rigorous section of the Pocso Act against Dorphang.