Outfit seeks death penalty in Santhal woman's murder case

Ramgarh (Jharkhand): All India Manji Pangana Mahal (AIMPM), a national Santhal tribe outfit, here today staged a sit-in protest demanding death penalty for the killer of a B.Ed student who was shot dead outside her college last week.

31-year-old Sonali Murmu, a married Santhal women, was shot dead outside her college and her hand severed in front of the institute's campus on May 4.

Addressing the protest gathering at Subhash Chowk here, District Convener of the tribal outfit AIMPM Babulal Hembrom said the killer of Murmu should be "arrested and hanged".

Hembrom said the government has been claiming that initiatives were taken for women empowerment but a poor tribal woman was killed in broad day light outside her college. The incident projects the true picture of women empowerment initiatives in the state, he added.

According to police, Murmu was allegedly being harassed by one Suken Mandal of Dumka for long who had even threatened her after marriage.

Prima facie, the killing appeared to be Mandal's handiwork as he was in love with her, Superintendent of Police, M Tamilvanan, had said.

A number of Santhal men and women joined the protest today in front of the statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and demanded immediate arrest of the culprit and capital punishment.

The protest was supported by various Left parties.