Dimapur, April 18 (MExN): In another discomforting situation for Nagaland, the Dimapur police arrested one person for harassing people taking advantage of the lockdown. The arrest pertained to a video in which local ‘volunteer’ youths are shown stopping and meting out unnecessary harassment to helpless “non-Nagas” in Nihoto village. In the video, a youth, clearly with a misplaced sense of bravado, stops and “scans” people using a car stereo.
In an update on its official Twitter handle on Friday evening, the police identified the individual as one Heveto Awomi of Nihoto Village. In this connection, a case has been registered in Diphupar Police Station, it added.
The repulsive action of the ‘volunteers’ certainly did not go unnoticed as social media erupted in disgust, while social media influencers picked up the video.
In the state, the Western Sumi Hoho (WSH), was among the first frontal organisations to express strong disapproval on the actions of the ‘volunteers.’ In a press release, the WSH cautioned against the “misuse of social media platforms” by community members and said that “strong action will be imposed on those people involved in the video.”
The Nihoto Village Council also issued a ‘Letter of Apology’ after the incident.
Regretting the incident, the statement informed that the council in general was not “in the knowledge as to how and why the video was made and circulated.”
On thorough investigation, it was found out that the “video was made by some few individuals” dragging the name of the village council, the statement maintained.
“Necessary action has been initiated against the erring individuals and they shall be penalised as per Village council law,” added the statement appended by the Nihoto VC chairman.
The Nagaland Police, on April 17, also issued an advisory regarding the responsibilities every social media user and administrator should take amidst the COVID-19 outbreak.
The advisory urged all citizens to not “post, share, forward, disseminate, any message, content, pictures or photos, videos anything that could promote enmity on grounds of tribe, religion, nationality, race, language and other grounds of discrimination or disrupt public order, decency and morality."
If such acts are committed, the law enforcement agency will take stern action against such perpetrators under relevant sections of the IPC, IT Act, CrPC and Epidemic Disease Act, it added.
