The Meghalaya High Court on Thursday directed the State government to provide security to RTI activists Agnes Kharshiing and Amita R. Sangma who were assaulted by alleged coal mafia on November 8.
The court also instructed the government to bear the expenditure of their treatment at the super-speciality North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) on the outskirts of State capital Shillong.
Hearing a petition by Ms. Sangma and others, Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir said that the "threat perception looms large as they (petitioners) have the apprehension of being eliminated by the persons who had attacked them".
Asking the State government to provide adequate security, the court noted that "keeping in view the magnitude of attack and injuries suffered", extra caution is necessary to eliminate scope for any person to cause harm to the duo at NEIGRIHMS.
Ms. Kharshiing who hit on the head, was in a more critical condition than Ms. Sangma. On Wednesday, the ventilators were taken off Ms. Kharshiing and her condition was said to be stable.
The court also told the State government to bear the cost of the treatment of the two activists who were attacked "while espousing social cause", and directed the officer investigating their case to file the latest status of the probe.