New Delhi: The sexual assault and subsequent murder of a schoolgirl in Assam’s Nagaon district on March 24 has rocked the entire northeastern state.In an attempt to address the public anger against the heinous crime and mounting pressure from the opposition Congress for action against the rising cases of rape in the state, chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal has written to the Gauhati high court to set up a fast track court to take up all cases of crimes against women “on an urgent basis for strict action against perpetrators of such crimes”.The Chief Minister also wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court and requested for setting up a fast-tract court to take up all cases of crimes against women on an urgent basis for strict action against perpetrators of such crimes.— Chief Minister Assam (@CMOfficeAssam) March 26, 2018In a tweet on March 26, Sonowal said he has also asked the director general of police to set up a cell in his office “headed by a senior police officer to expeditiously take up cases of crime against women and ensure swift action.”Meanwhile, the state police yesterday arrested the prime accused in the case, 21-year-old Zakir Hussain, from the Itapara locality of Nagaon town, which is about 40 kms from his home at Lalung Gaon in Batadraba. Hussain, who had been absconding since the rape and murder of the Class V student on Saturday, was nabbed after he tried contacting a friend over the phone, thus giving away the location of his hiding place. Police had earlier picked up his father, mother and brother in order to pressurise him to surrender.The incident was reported on March 23 when a family member found the girl in a critical condition in the shed of the house. Police said Hussain, who belonged to the same village, allegedly raped the minor girl at her house after she returned from school. The rest of the family members were out on work. He was accompanied by two others, who are students in the same school as her and who reportedly stood guard outside the room where the assault occurred.While Hussain was leaving, the girl said that she would inform her brother about the incident. Following this, the 21-year-old allegedly returned with kerosene, poured it over her and set her on fire. The two juvenile co-accused have been taken into police custody.Local media reports quoting the district superintendent of police, Shankar Raimedhi, said the girl had named all the three accused before her death. Her family rushed her to the Nagaon civil hospital. Since she had received 90% burn injuries, she was referred to the Gauhati Medical College. However, she died on her way.District police said Hussain had already confessed to his crime. As per police records, Hussain was sent to jail in 2014 in a burglary case.Even as the sensational case has rocked the state, many MLAs in the legislative assembly demanded that the government bring in a law to provide strict punishment to rapists. The women’s wing of the opposition Congress, Mahila Congress, held a dharna demanding action against the “inefficiency of the BJP government” in the state to curb rising cases of crime against women. Former chief minister Tarun Gogoi also participated in the dharna.This is the second case of sexual assault in Nagaon district since March 22 when a 35-year-old woman was gangraped by eight men in Chaparmukh area. Since 2014, there have been four cases of sexual assault reported from the district. The courts in the district also reportedly have the state’s highest number of pending cases related to crime against women.