India's Supreme Court appointed on Monday an independent investigator to look into allegations that security forces in Manipur summarily executed people, after a human rights group documented 1,528 cases of extrajudicial killings in the state over the past five years.
The lead plaintiff in the petition filed with the Supreme Court is Neena Ningombam, whose husband, Nongmaithem Michael Singh, was picked up by state security forces in November 2008 and was killed a few hours later. Security forces said he was a terrorist and was killed while he was throwing grenades, but Ms. Ningombam said her husband was innocent.
Ms. Ningombam, 33, who now supports their two sons, ages 5 and 10, said that she spent thr ee years filing petitions to different agencies trying to clear her husband's name. Along the way, she met many families whose relatives were killed by the Manipur police under questionable circumstances. Together, these families formed the Extrajudicial Victim Families Association, Manipur, with Ms. Ningombam as its secretary, and brought the lawsuit before the Supreme Court.
In July, a district judge appointed by the Guwahati High Court sided with Ms. Ningombam, concluding that Mr. Singh had not attacked the police when he was killed. The Guwahati High Court has not issued any sentence in the case or charges against the police.
In total, the families' organization has gathered details of 1,528 extrajudicial killings and compiled detailed documents in 63 cases for its Supreme Court filing. On Monday, Supreme Court appointed Menaka Guruswamy as the amicus curiae, or friend of the court, to submit a report in four months after an inves tigation.
“I am hopeful to get justice from the Supreme Court,†said Ms. Ningombam in an interview after the court order. “It seems that the judge took the matter seriously. We hope that something positive will come out of this.â€
Babloo Loitongbam of Manipur's Human Right Alert, an organization fighting for civil rights in Manipur, criticized the Guwahati High Court for its delays in charging the police officers, saying, “The criminal justice system in Manipur has failed in protecting the right of life.†Mr. Loitongbam helped the victim families' group in filing the petition with the Supreme Court.
Colin Gonsalves, the organization's advocate in the Supreme Court, said in a telephone interview that the Guwahati High Court should have been more active in taking these cases. “Why is the High Court oblivious of what is happening?†he said.
