Manipur CM regrets Army chief comment

Manipur Chief Minister O. Ibobi Singh has regretted the recent statement of Army chief General N.C. Vij that Manorama Devi, who had been arrested by the 17th Assam Rifles and found dead the next day, was not raped.

A judicial inquiry and an Army court of inquiry are looking into the circumstances that led to her death. ‘‘While the inquiries are going on, the Army chief should not have said that (that Manorama Devi was not raped),’’ Ibobi Singh told a meeting of the Manipur Editor’s Guild here on Monday.

‘‘What will happen if the reports of the inquiries contradict his statement?’’ he asked. Both nquiries will take some time to be completed and the ‘‘culprits will not go unpunished’’, he added.

Sources had earlier said the report of the Central Forensic Laboratory, Kolkata, had confirmed semen stains on Manorama Devi’s undergarments. Her death on July 11 had sparked off the current stir for withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the state.