He was just out for an evening walk. That’s all. And yet, by the time the sun had fully set along the Jollang-Rakap road on the outskirts of Itanagar, National Award-winning filmmaker Dominic Sangma was on the receiving end of bamboo sticks wielded by two men in a drunken rage.
Police confirmed on September 18 that two individuals have been arrested in connection with the brutal attack on Sangma, a name that carries significant weight in Northeast Indian cinema.
The incident happened on Wednesday evening when Sangma — who heads the screenwriting department at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) campus in Jote — was taking a casual stroll around 6:30 PM. That’s when things took a violent and deeply troubling turn. He noticed two men, allegedly heavily intoxicated and armed with bamboo sticks, aggressively intimidating a group of FTII students at Jote. The kind of scene most people would walk past. Sangma didn’t.
“When he intervened, the two men attacked him with bamboo sticks,” his wife recounted. What followed was chaos. A security guard posted at the FTII campus and four students were also reportedly assaulted during the confrontation. A filmmaker trying to protect young students getting beaten on an open road — it’s the sort of incident that leaves a bitter taste.
A complaint was promptly filed and police registered an FIR at the Balijan police station. The two accused, both residents of nearby Rakap village, were arrested without much delay. The attack took place along the Jollang-Rakap road on the outskirts of Arunachal Pradesh’s capital, a senior police officer confirmed.
Sangma is no ordinary name in regional cinema. Originally from Meghalaya, he is widely celebrated for his path-breaking Garo-language films — Rapture (Rimdogittanga) and Ma.Ama — that brought Northeast storytelling onto the national stage and earned him the prestigious National Award. For someone who has dedicated his life to crafting stories about the human experience, becoming the subject of a violent news story must feel surreal.
The film community was swift to react. The Arunachal Film Collective (AFC) condemned the attack in no uncertain terms, calling for a thorough, impartial investigation and demanding stronger security measures for artists working in the region. AFC chairperson Bindiya Ete Nalo called the incident an attack not just on a man, but on artistic freedom and the cultural identity of the entire region. Those are strong words — but given the circumstances, they feel entirely appropriate.
What’s also striking here is the context in which this happened. FTII’s campus in Arunachal is a relatively young institution, still building its presence in a state that holds enormous creative potential. The sight of a filmmaker and students being beaten on a public road near the campus sends a chilling message to everyone in that creative ecosystem.
Two men have been arrested, and the legal process will run its course. But the real question this incident raises goes beyond the courtroom — if a National Award winner stepping in to protect students gets attacked in broad daylight, what does that say about the safety of artists and educators working in the region?
Dominic Sangma dedicated his career to telling Northeast India’s stories. The least we can do is make sure he can do so without fearing for his safety on an evening walk.
