July 24, 2015: Committee for Justice and Release of Rahul Moirangthem held a Press Conference in regards to the false allegation charged by the Delhi Police against Rahul Moirangthem on 24th July, 2015 at 11 am at Press Club of India, Raisina Road, New Delhi. Around 70 members of different organization and students were present.
Concerned North East Social activist, Students, Parents and Friends of Rahul and Committee members condemned the barbaric act of Delhi Police. The press conference concluded with the following resolutions:
With much respect, we appeal for your apt and timely intervention on the wrongful incarceration of Rahul Moirangthem who is being implicated in the vandalization case of Holy Child Auxilium School, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi, which was alleged to have taken place on 13th February 2015. He is innocent and we hereby present the following facts of the false allegation on Rahul Morangthem.
1) Holy Child Auxilium School was reported vandalized on 13th February 2015, 3 AM. Rahul have his CBSE 12th standard exam on the same day 13th Febraury2015 in the afternoon. Therefore, Rahul was with me and my two daughters the whole night preparing for his exam when the alleged crime took place. It is impossible for Rahul to be at two places at the same time.
2) Rahul is not aware of the existence of Holy Child Auxilium School and has never been there. So the allegation that his finger print matches with a finger print found in Holy Child Auxilium School Principal’s office is baseless and it is an attempt to implicate him. Because, he held from Northeast India who are often the victims of character assassination and various discrimination in the hands of Delhi police.
3) Rahul is a Christian by faith, his alleged involvement in the said crime against Christian institution is unthinkable and unfounded.
4) Rahul was forcibly made to sign on 4 blank sheets by Delhi Police on 29th May, 2015 and his finger prints were also taken on four different papers. This is a serious matter and we fear that his finger print will be misused by Delhi Police. Why his finger prints taken need satisfactory answer.
5) Delhi Police took Rahul at Holy Child Auxilium two times and he was video tapped each time. It is very likely that police will use that video to implicate guiltless Rahul.
6) Delhi Police gave out wrong information to National Media and assassinated Rahul’s character. It is alleged that Rahul is a hot tempered guy, he is hated by classmates and school fellows. This allegation is totally false; on the contrary he is loved by his classmates and fellow school mates. They are willing to speak up for Rahul’s justice at any given opportunity.
7) Delhi Police also alleged that Rahul hit his girlfriend with a beer bottle which is another cook up story.
No beer bottle incident took place whatsoever. Such irrelevant wild allegation from Delhi Police to paint a bad image to every Northeasterner is unethical and utterly unprofessional.
All the above allegations are false and hold no credibility upon Rahul Moirangthem. He is completely innocent.
On 11/07/2015 at around 11 a.m. the police came to Shangpungman’s aunt’s residence in house no. H-131, Motibagh Nanakpura, New Delhi. They came and asked for Shangpungman, Rahul and Kalakgui. They told his aunt that some verifications were needed and the finger prints which were taken previously were not clear, so they wanted to retake the fingerprints. However, when they reached Vasant Vihar Police Station, it resulted in them being interrogated by the Special Task Force regarding the Holy Child Auxilium School, Vasant Vihar case which took place on 13th of February 2015 at 3 a.m. The family was not informed about the case mentioned above and they were arrested without an arrest warrant. He was tortured while he was in the police custody as stated by Rahul when his relative visited. When his relative saw a big bamboo stick beside Rahul, family questioned Rahul whether they had inflicted harm on him using that bamboo but he fidgeted before he answered saying he was not beaten by that specific bamboo but that something was done to him which he could not remember.
Later on 12/07/2015 at around 1 a.m. the police took them on the pretext of medical checkup at AIIMS but instead some pictures and thumb prints of Rahul, Shangpungman and Kalakgui were taken. Later at around 2 a.m., Shangpungman and Kalakgui were handed over to their respective family because the police informed that they were juveniles. But since Rahul was not a juvenile, he was held back with the excuse of his fingerprint matching with the fingerprints taken from The Holy Child Auxilium School Principal’s office, Vasant Vihar. Thus, he spent the night in the lockup under police custody. In the morning, the parents were informed that he has to be taken to court which led Rahul to be retained for another day in the police custody. It was reportedly that he was taken to AIIMS for another medical checkup before being presented in the court. He had to be produced in the court before 4 p.m. where his family and lawyer were present but the Investigation Officers namely Arvin and Vikash arrived late intentionally at around 4:30 p.m. When asked, the police told that time was consumed in medical tests. However, when Rahul was asked by his parents and friends, he told them that he was taken to Holy Child Auxilium School where the police videotaped Rahul while he was made to walk around the school premises. As a matter of fact, by the time Rahul reached the court with the police, the judge had already left and thus he was taken back to police custody and forced to spend the night in the lockup for the second time. When Rahul’s family and friends tried to enquire with the Investigation Officer about the details of the case filed against Rahul, the Investigation Officer retorted his friends and family stating that they (Rahul’s friends and family) do not know a thing about the law and procedures so they should just meet Rahul and leave the police station premises.
On the following day dated 13/07/2015, Rahul had to be produced in the court before 4 p.m. but the Investigation Officers Arvin and Vikash, who were responsible to produce Rahul in the court, arrived intentionally late again for the second time around 4:30 p.m. The reason being, as Rahul informed us, the police had taken him to Holy Child Auxilium School for the second time. Whereas, the police, gave excuses for their tardiness on the context of medical tests that were taken on the said date and time. This resulted in causing Rahul to be sent to Tihar Jail. On this very day, a bail application was filed by the defendant’s lawyer Israr Ahmed, Advocate.
On 14/07/2015, the bail application for Rahul was rejected by Metropolitan Magistrate, Akash Jain, as it was alleged by the police that one of Rahul’s fingerprints matched from the object of a crime scene, which they have not shown or produced before us. On the same day, Rahul’s family filed for another bail application in the session court.
On 15/07/2015, the session court also denied the bail of Rahul Moirangthem on the basis of the same reason mentioned above. Since Rahul had a compartmental exam on 16/07/2015, his lawyer Israr Ahmed, filed for a custodial bail to Metropolitan Magistrate, Akash Jain for his above mentioned exam. Hereby, the Metropolitan Magistrate gave the consent for the mentioned custodial bail if the Investigation Officer arrive the court premises latest by 2 p.m. Rahul’s family tried contacting the Investigation Officers but there was no response. After several tries, the Investigation Officers answered the call and promised to arrive at the court before 3 p.m. In the meantime, the defendant’s lawyer pleaded the court to extend the time of hearing till 3 p.m. The Investigation Officers intentionally arrived an hour and 10 minutes late at 4:10 p.m. knowing fully that the magistrate would have left office by then, resulting to cancellation of his bail plea. This is much against the promise they made on the phone with Rahul’s parents. This in turn has deeply affected Rahul Moirangthem’s academic future.
Refutation Against The Newspaper About Rahul
On July 14, 2015 as stated in Times of India, that Rahul had hit his girlfriend with a beer bottle when she wanted to break up with her. She suffered a serious injury to her eye and remained hospitalized for a month.
This allegation against Rahul hitting his girlfriend with beer bottle has been proven wrong, the girl’s name is Blaize (name change) and she has given us a video clip stating that it was not a beer bottle actually it was a plastic water bottle which accidentally hit her head while Rahul was passing it to her.
TOI also stated that Rahul is feared by everyone in Mount Carmel School, South Campus.
This is also a false allegation towards Rahul as he is loved by everyone in school and many of the classmates are supporting for the justice of Rahul. Who are willing to speak in media and other platform if given needed be.
TOI also stated that Rahul admitted that he had entered Delhi Tamil Education Association School. They had to escape after the guards got suspicious.
On this very allegation the Special Task Force have no evidence and no confession statements have been taken. Hence it is also a wrong allegation against Rahul by STF, Vasant Vihar.
All these allegations have been wrongly put up by the Police to harm Rahul’s social image and strengthen the case of Holy Child Auxilium School, Vasant Vihar against Rahul. This news stated by TOI is just what police has told them. TOI never interviewed the defendant or the defendant’s family and friends. Whereas the concern of the family and friends statement is also needed to be looked upon before any news is put up on any newspaper.
There are similar allegations published by other well known Newspapers like The Hindu, The Hindustan times, The Deccan Herald and many more.
Facts Stated by Family, Classmates & Friends
Rahul Moirangthem had his class 12th CBSE Board exams on 13/02/2015, so he had been sincerely studying for his exams on the eve of the night. His father and two of his sisters were the witness of his presence at home while he was studying under their guided supervision. This is a proof that the defendant cannot be present at the crime scene as reported by the police.
Any criminal suspects can be granted custodial bail on the basis of academic event which is needed for the long run, but as for Rahul Moirangthem bail was not granted. Why Rahul wasn’t allowed a custodial bail?
What Rahul said before going to jail.
Rahul was kept in police custody for two days. He told his family and friends that he was tortured inside the police custody and questioned about the case of Holy Child Auxilium School. Rahul told the police that he never committed the crime; he kept denying that he committed the said crime. He told the police that he had exams on the morning of 13/02/2015 at 7:50 a.m. so he had to go by 6:30 a.m. in order to reach the school and appear for his exams in time. He told them that he had been studying the night before the exams and he had never heard of Holy Child Auxilium School. He doesn’t have any friends or acquaintances from the mentioned school. He is a God-fearing Christian so he would never do such things. While in police custody on Saturday dated 11/07/2015, his relative visited and Rahul told her that he was tortured and when his relative saw a big bamboo stick beside Rahul, they questioned Rahul whether they had inflicted harm on him using that bamboo but he fidgeted before he answered saying he was not beaten by that specific bamboo but that something was done to him which he could not remember.
Implications on Rahul Made By the Special Task Force, Vasant Vihar
The Police have implied that Rahul’s fingerprints matched with that of the fingerprints collected at the crime scene which is on the desks of the Principal’s office of Holy Child Auxilium School. They then went on to say that the figure in the CCTV cameras matched Rahul’s silhouette.
Against the Implications Made by the STF
These allegations made against Rahul by the Special Task Force, Vasant Vihar is considered as framing Rahul Moirangthem. All the allegations that have been implicated on Rahul can be due to his mongoloid feature which is not an uncommon thing that has been experienced by others in Delhi. There are probable chances of influential hand as Rahul has been made a scapegoat. Regarding Rahul’s fingerprints that matched the fingerprints on the desk of the Principal of Holy Child Auxilium, shows that a frame game is being played at hand as Rahul has never heard of or ever been to Holy Child Auxilium School and Rahul is being used as a scapegoat. Due to this mentioned sentence, we can conclude that an influential figure has their hands on this case. The reasons for the probable involvement of an influential figure can be implied here as there has been recent reports and incidents of Christian Institutes and Churches being vandalized across Delhi and using Rahul Moirangthem, a Christian student, as a scapegoat would be the most effective way of convincing the public that the recent incidents have not been about vandalizing Christian sites by anti-Christian groups, but by Christian. Rahul has been reduced to a pawn in the entire game of aggression against Christian institutions in Delhi and NCR region. The Police have utterly failed in their duty to apprehend the real culprit and hence implicated Rahul to salvage their fast fading reputation of Delhi Police. Delhi Police gave out false information on late Reingamphy’s Awungshi case on the first day as suicide or either drug overdose. But after Chemical visceral analysis no drug substance was found. Such accusation to paint bad image upon every Northeast person by Delhi police is not new. We appeal justice for Rahul and take strong action against police involved in implicating innocent Rahul.
We strongly condemn that he was not allowed to appear his compartmental XII Board Exam while he was in judicial custody. The real culprits after conviction of the serious crime are even allowed to appear in Exams even they are in Jail. So we suspect that it is a determined act by the Police to defame and torture Rahul to make him a Scapegoat. About the media’s report on this case, we strongly condemn the way how Rahul was publicly criminalized by the media by looking only the source of Police report. It was highly insensitive and condemnable that in this case that media never tried to contact the family members to know the truth. So we want justice for Rahul Moirangthem and he should be released immediately.
Demands:
- Immediately release innocent Rahul from incarceration unconditionally.
- Take strong action against police involved in implicating innocent Rahul.
- Media should write the real stories of Rahul Moirangthem.
- Justice should be given immediately.
- Finger print should be retested at authentic international agencies.
Convener
Committee for Justice and Release of Rahul Moirangthem (CJRR)
New Delhi
