National Award-winning filmmaker attacked near FTII campus

Shillong: National Award-winning filmmaker Dominic Sangma faced an assault Wednesday evening near the Jollang-Rakap road in Itanagar. Sangma, who leads the Department of Screenwriting at the Film and Television Institute of India Jote campus, was walking home at 6:30 pm. He saw two men bothering a group of students. The men appeared to be drunk and carried bamboo sticks.

Sangma stepped in to help. The attackers then beat him with their fists and the bamboo sticks. His wife filed an official complaint detailing the violence. The FIR names Techi Nanu and Techi Sanjay, both from Rakap village, as the assailants. The document claims, "The accused were identified in the FIR as Techi Nanu and Techi Sanjay, both residents of Rakap village."

The trouble did not end with Sangma. The complaint states the men also beat an FTII security guard and four students, while wrongfully restraining them. Authorities registered the case at Balijan police station under Sections 115(2), 117(2), 126 and 351 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police launched an investigation into the matter. Sangma is a Meghalaya native known for his Garo-language cinema, including the film Rapture which earned a National Film Award.

Updated at 18th September 2026 at 9:48am

Sangma recounted that the confrontation unfolded between 6:30 pm and 7 pm on September 16. He initially bypassed the men after seeing them harass an individual, but the situation escalated when they intercepted three of his students who were riding a motorcycle toward the campus. Sangma attempted to mediate by asking the men to let the students pass, noting they were new to the institution.

Despite an apparent agreement, the men attacked the students as they approached. Sangma tried to deescalate the violence by apologizing to the assailants. The situation turned physical when a non-local security guard arrived to intervene and was beaten alongside the filmmaker. Sangma reported that he sustained bruises during the scuffle, and the guard and students suffered physical injuries.