Manipur video: Rape FIR gathered dust for 62 days as high-level meetings went on

Speaking a day after the video surfaced and led to calls for his resignation, Chief Minister N Biren Singh sought to explain the delay in police action saying, “There were over 6,000 FIRs even as the violence continued. Police were trying to identify the case when the video surfaced. As soon as we got hold of the video, we could identify the culprits and action was taken immediately and we arrested two persons, including the main culprit.”

The women were stripped and paraded on May 4 in the valley district of Thoubal, and a police complaint was filed by the husband of one of the victims on May 18. Yet, it was only after the video surfaced Wednesday that police took action, arresting four of the men seen in the video.

While one of the four has been identified as 32-year-old Huirem Herodas Meitei, police are yet to name the others.

While the investigation into this case saw no movement, the state witnessed a series of high-profile visits and high-level meetings to discuss the violence:

On May 27, Chief of Army Staff Manoj Pande visited the state to review the security situation.

On May 29, Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Manipur on a four-day visit during which there were several rounds of security review meetings as well as meetings with multiple stakeholders.

On June 4, the Central government constituted a Commission of Inquiry headed by former Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Ajai Lamba.

On June 10, North East Democratic Alliance head and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited Imphal and met with CM Singh and other stakeholders. He also met Kuki stakeholders in Assam later.

On June 24, an all-party meeting called by Shah was held in Delhi.

On June 26, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting in which Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri were present, along with senior officials.

Chief Minister Singh, DGP Rajiv Singh and Manipur Unified Command head Kuldiep Singh did not respond to queries on whether this particular case had been brought to their attention at the state-level security review meetings.

When The Indian Express asked him why it took more than two months for police to act, Thoubal Superintendent of Police Sachidananda said police “could not take any action” so far due to “lack of evidence”.

“We only came to know about the video yesterday. Now that we have evidence in the form of the video, we have swung into action and have begun making arrests,” he said.

He also cited the victims not being in Thoubal following the incident as a reason for the delay.

In the police complaint, it has been stated that the women were with police personnel from Thoubal’s Nongpok Sekmai police station when a mob seized them.

Asked how police personnel did not, then, identify any of the perpetrators, the SP said the allegation in the complaint was untrue and police were not present at the site. “That very day, the Nongpok Sekmai police station was being mobbed by people trying to loot arms. Police were busy guarding the police station,” he said.

This is in contrast to what one of the women, who was also allegedly raped by the mob, told The Indian Express: “The police were there with the mob which was attacking our village. The police picked us up from near home, took us a little away from the village and left us on the road with the mob. We were given to them by the police.”

Another delay was in the transfer of the case between police stations. The complaint was first filed at Saikul police station in the Kangpokpi district, based on which a zero FIR was registered. But, it was only on June 21 that the case was finally transferred to the relevant police station in Nongpok Sekmai.

The FIR was registered against “unknown miscreants numbering about 900-1,000” under multiple sections, including rape, abduction and murder.