Justice for Sanaton takes protest further with road blocksDemand to register FIR gets louder

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Apr 9: The call for justice for Sanaton Athokpam gained momentum as a large number of people including womenfolk blocked roads and held a mass sit-in protest today.
Protesters under the aegis of the JAC (Justice for Sanaton Athokpam) today blocked Imphal-Ukhrul road and Khurai Salanthong area road restricting vehicular movement.
A large number of people including womenfolk also staged a mass sit-in protest at Sagolmang Community Hall.
People Sagolmang, Yumnam Patlou, Wakhong and Khewa Phurju took part in the campaign and raise several slogans demanding suspension of RIMS Director and the warden of the hostel, where Sanaton was found dead.
The protesters and local women leaders also denounced the Government and law enforcement agencies for not registering an FIR in the case.
They claimed that the police have not yet registered an FIR in the case to effectively investigate the death of the medical student.
It may be noted that Sanaton Athokpam was a 5th Semester MBBS student at the Regional Institute of medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal. He was found hanging with both hands tied behind inside his room at a hostel at RIMS on March 15.
According to the JAC (Justice for Sanaton Athokpam) and family members, Sanaton was a suspected to have been allegedly beaten and murdered. The JAC claimed that the body of Sanaton had bruises on his face and a cut mark on his left little toe.
The Justice for Sanaton Athokpam had accused RIMS of trying to cover up the incident. Besides demanding police to register an FIR, earlier, the JAC had demanded the Government to rope in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for an impartial probe.
The State Government, on the other hand, had ordered a Magisterial enquiry into the case.
So far, no one has been named as a suspect and police have not yet arrested anyone in the case.