Women paraded naked in Manipur were forcibly taken away from police custody by mob

A senior police official confirmed that the incident had taken place on May 4 in Thoubal district and that a zero FIR had been registered in the matter on May 18 in Kangpokpi district. However, while the FIR, on charges including abduction, gangrape and murder against “unknown armed miscreants”, was registered two months ago, there have not been any arrests so far.

In a press note in the evening, Manipur Superintendent of Police K Meghachandra Singh said the “state police is making all-out effort to arrest the culprits at the earliest”.

The two women, one in her 20s and the other in her 40s, are from the Kuki-Zomi dominated hill district of Kangpokpi. In the video, they can be seen being made to walk naked down a road and towards a field by a mob of men. Some of the men can be seen dragging the two women towards a field and forcibly groping them.

While the incident had taken place in the Meitei-dominated valley district of Thoubal, the victims later filed a complaint at a police station in Kangpokpi district where a zero FIR was registered and the case forwarded to the police station concerned in Thoubal.

According to their complaint, while the video shows only two women, there was another woman in her 50s who was also forced to take off her clothes by the mob. The complaint also alleges that the younger woman was “brutally gang raped in the broad daylight”.

In their complaint, the victims have said that five members of the village – the three women and two family members of the youngest – had fled towards the forest after a “group of 800-1,000 persons carrying sophisticated weapons like AK Rifles, SLR, INSAS and .303 Rifles” entered their village and began looting and burning it on May 4 afternoon, a day after violence had erupted in the state on May 3.

They said they were later rescued by the police and were being taken to the police station, but were stopped on the way by a mob and seized from police custody around two kilometres away from the police station. They stated that the youngest woman’s father was killed on the spot and that “all three women were physically forced to remove their clothes and were stripped naked in front of the mob”, after which they alleged that the youngest was raped in front of the others. They also alleged that her brother was killed while trying to help her.

The three women were later able to escape through the adjoining hill district of Tengnoupal and are currently in relief camps.

In response to the release of the video, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum – a conglomerate of registered tribes in Churachandpur – demanded that the state and central governments, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, and the National Commission for Women take cognizance of the incident and act against the perpetrators.

As the video sparked outrage, Irani tweeted: “The horrific video of sexual assault of 2 women emanating from Manipur is condemnable and downright inhuman. Spoke to CM N Biren Singh ji who has informed me that investigation is currently underway and assured that no effort will be spared to bring perpetrators to justice.”

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted that the “PM’s silence and inaction has led Manipur into anarchy”. “INDIA will not stay silent while the idea of India is being attacked in Manipur. We stand with the people of Manipur. Peace is the only way forward,” he wrote.

Party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also took on the PM. “The images of sexual violence against women from Manipur are heart wrenching. Any amount of condemnation of this horrific incident will fall short. Women and children have to face the maximum brunt of violence in society. We must all condemn the violence in one voice while furthering the efforts for peace in Manipur. Why is the Central government, Prime Minister sitting blindly on the violent incidents in Manipur? Do such images and violent incidents not disturb them?” she wrote on Twitter.

The Aam Aadmi Party issued a statement condemning the incident: “The inaction of the State and Central government is painful for all the citizens of the country. We again request the intervention of the Prime Minister in Manipur. Turning a blind eye to the problem will not make it go away. The Aam Aadmi Party is ready and willing to assist in any manner as the Central Government may deem fit.”

Rajya Sabha MP from the Shiv Sena (UBT) Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted, “This silence to the ongoing violence and ethnicity based violence is absolutely shameful. PM hasn’t spoken, will the WCD minister do?”