With Jaigaon police heading the investigations, some details are emerging on the case of the two Bhutanese women who were brutally murdered in Mechiabasti, Jaigaon.

The Police have arrested two men already. According to one Indian media report, the suspect had called the women to Mechiabasti and hacked them to death.

The details, if confirmed, appear to be a story straight out of a crime magazine or TV soap.  This story circulated soon after the pictures of the women went viral with some Jaigaon residents and Bhutanese were exchanging accusations on social media platforms.

What also spread was unverified and unjustified stories with people quick to draw conclusions and judging the two victims as immoral women. The fact that the two women worked in a beauty parlour and a draying didn’t help as people started jumping to conclusions about their morality and character. Some are blaming the women for what had happened to them. This is not good.

Whatever the cause, what the family and relatives need is justice and our own people branding them as “bad” people or “tramashep,” as many say, is not going to help anyone. The judgment people are passing could influence investigations.

We don’t hack people to death for blackmailing. It happens in movies. Two Bhutanese have lost their lives in a manner not many could fathom. It happened in a place where people felt safe and tried to make a living. No, nobody had forced the women to live in Jaigaon. They didn’t return to Phuentsholing when everybody did and they didn’t heed to the government’s call. The murder could have happened even without a lockdown.

They committed a mistake, for whatever reasons. But not at the cost of their lives and not in the manner they did. The two women do not have what we call strong “background.” They come from humble family background. One has already lost her parents. Would the situation and reaction be different if they came from a better background?

We see Bhutanese come together to help people in need whether it is funding a complicated surgery or a conflict with those in power or authority. We have two innocent Bhutanese killed in cold-blooded murder.  If we cannot help, we shouldn’t condemn for whatever act they got entangled in before their lives were cut short.

Murders involving sex or blackmailing happens everywhere. But even if it is a sex worker, it is not brushed aside because of the profession. Murders are brought to justice for taking the law in their own hands. The Jaigaon murder should be seen for what they were. It is a low and blatant criminal act for which the perpetrators must be brought to justice.

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