Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Itanagar: Police arrested two men on September 18 for allegedly beating filmmaker Dominic Sangma with bamboo sticks on the outskirts of Arunachal Pradesh. The attack occurred Wednesday evening along the Jollang-Rakap road near the Film and Television Institute of India campus in Jote. Sangma, who heads the screenwriting department, stepped in when he saw two drunk men wielding sticks to threaten students. The situation turned violent fast.
Sangma's wife explained the sequence of events. "When he intervened, the two men attacked him with bamboo sticks," she said. Along with the filmmaker, an FTII security guard and four students suffered injuries during the confrontation. Police from the Balijan station filed an FIR and tracked down both suspects, who reside in nearby Rakap village.
Sangma is a major name in Northeast cinema, famous for his Garo-language projects titled Rapture and Ma.Ama. The Arunachal Film Collective condemned the violence immediately. Chairperson Bindiya Ete Nalo labeled the assault a direct strike against artistic freedom and local cultural identity. She demanded an impartial investigation and pushed for better protection for artists working across the region.
Updated at 19th September 2026 at 2:00pm
Following the attack, students at the Itanagar campus launched an indefinite strike on September 17. The protest effectively shut down all academic operations, with the Students Council refusing to return to class until the administration fixes persistent safety failures. Students report the incident began on September 16 when locals confronted a three-person student film crew, eventually striking one student in the head with a stick.
The shutdown highlights mounting frustration over institutional inaction. Students cite a history of intimidation, unauthorized trespassers, and specific threats against female students. Although officials promised to deploy Central Industrial Security Force guards back in May 2025, that plan has stalled for 16 months due to a lack of housing for security staff. The council is now demanding a permanent police outpost, the immediate deployment of CISF personnel, and a joint committee of faculty and students to oversee the legal fallout and mend relations with the local community.
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