The Dimapur Central Jail: Getting away with murder. The Dimapur Central Jail: Getting away with murder.

THE controversy over the alleged rape of a woman in Dimapur that led to the lynching of the accused by a mob has taken a dramatic turn with the Nagaland government informing the Centre that it “appeared to be a case of consensual sex”.

The state government, citing feedback from the accused Syed Arif Khan’s interrogation, has told the Union Home Ministry in a report that “Khan did not rape the woman”. However, the report adds that investigations are still on into the woman’s complaint and that the police were awaiting forensic reports.

When contacted, Wabang Jamir, IGP (Range), Nagaland, said that investigators were not aware of the government report and were still treating the case as one of rape. “We are not privy to any such report. We maintain that it’s a rape probe,” Jamir told The Indian Express.

The government report, while narrating the sequence of events in the case, points out that Khan told police after his arrest on February 24, a day after the alleged rape, that he had paid Rs 5,000 to the woman after they had “consensual sex” twice.

“The state government has sent two reports on the case so far. Even in the first report, they did not conclusively say that it was a case of rape. They said that though they had registered a case, they had sent the exhibits to Central Forensic Laboratory in Guwahati for expert opinion,” a senior Home Ministry official said.

“In the second report, they have quoted Khan’s interrogation report and said it appeared to be a case of consensual sex,” the official added.

According to the latest report, Khan told police that the woman allegedly demanded more money from him, which he refused. He alleged it was then that she complained to police about having been raped, the report says.

Khan was in police custody for a day before he was sent to Dimapur Central Jail. On March 5, a mob broke into the jail, dragged him out and beat him to death.

(With inputs from Smita Nair/Dimapur)

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