Guwahati, July 13
Assault on a hapless young woman by some hooligans on the street when the night is still young. For a change, it hasn’t happened in New Delhi or any other mega city of the country but in the heart of Guwahati.

People of the state are shocked after seeing the video footage aired by two local TV channels here showing how a group of youths pounced upon a young woman, allegedly drunk, on the city’s main thoroughfare Guwahati-Shillong Road. They chased her around the place before she was shielded by a few bold passers-by, including a city-based scribe and a Deputy SP in civvies, before the arrival of the police at the scene.

Director General of Assam Police JN Choudhury told The Tribune that four accused out of the 11 identified were arrested by the city police and manhunt was on to arrest all other accused. They have been identified on the basis of video footage provided by a local TV channel.

National Commission for Women (NCW) is sending at least one representative to the city to take stock, while the Assam State Women Commission has registered a suo motu case over the assault on the woman.

In the wake of the barbaric attack on the young woman which has caused embarrassment to the state administration, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in a face-saving gesture has announced setting up of a task force to prevent such crimes against women in the state. The bizarre incident happened after the victim had come out of a bar located along the GS Road at around 10 pm on Monday. The incident snowballed into a major issue once the TV channels started beaming the footage since Wednesday.

Ashutosh Agnihotri, Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup (metro), has warned the bars in the city against serving drinks to under-age and keeping the bars open after 10 pm.