SHILLONG: East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police, Vivek Syiem, on Monday confirmed that the murder of a 4-year-old girl from Nongrah was homicidal in nature, as the child was deliberately drowned by a 13-year-old juvenile.
SP Confirms Homicide; 13-Year-Old Juvenile Drowned 4-Year-Old Girl Deliberately
Syiem informed that the Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted to probe the case which occurred on September 14, has determined that the drowning was intentional. However, investigators are still trying to establish the motive behind the act — whether it was, as the juvenile claimed, an argument over a biscuit, or an attempted sexual assault.
“Yes, she was drowned deliberately, but the SIT is still working to ascertain whether it was really due to an argument over a biscuit as the boy claimed, or a sexual assault attempt. There are many indications pointing to the latter,” said Syiem.
He further ruled out the involvement of any other individual in the crime.
“There is only one perpetrator — the 13-year-old boy,” the SP confirmed.
Murder of 7-Year-Old Boy from Nongrah
In a separate case, the SP also provided an update on the murder of a 7-year-old orphan boy from Nongrah. He said that police are awaiting the post-mortem report to gain a clearer understanding of the cause of death.
“Yes, there are injuries — some could be anti-mortem and some post-mortem — we are waiting for the report to ascertain the types of injuries,” Syiem stated.
When asked about possible suspects, the SP said that investigations are still at an early stage.
“As of now, the spectrum of suspects is wide. We will be able to narrow it down further as the investigation progresses,” he said.
Syiem noted that establishing the motive behind the murder of a child remains a major challenge.
“It’s a child victim — the motive to kill a child is very difficult to establish. It could be ransom, which didn’t come; or sexual assault, which the investigation hasn’t indicated so far. We will have to look for other motives. It’s important to establish why this child was killed,” he added.
On “Menshohnoh” Theories
Responding to queries about local theories linking the cases to ‘menshohnoh’ (human hunters associated with the U Thlen demonology in Khasi folklore), Syiem said that such fears have existed for decades but past investigations have revealed more practical motives behind such crimes.
“This apprehension is always there since it is part of community folklore. But usually, when we get to the truth or arrest those involved, it turns out not to be about draining blood from victims — it’s typically cases of vendetta, ransom, or other personal motives,” he explained.
“We have had many cases initially believed to be ‘menshohnoh’, but investigations have always revealed different reasons,” Syiem added.
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