A video of two Kuki women being paraded naked by a mob has emerged from Manipur and is being widely circulated on social media. In the horrifying video, scores of young men, allegedly belonging to the Meitei tribe, can be seen walking alongside the two women, as other men drag the distressed-looking women into the fields. The video shows some of the men groping the women.
It is important to note that while the video surfaced only yesterday, the said inhumane incident had taken place on May 4, a day after the ongoing clashes in Manipur had begun, as confirmed by The Wire. As per the information provided, the incident occurred in B Phainom village in Kangpokpi district on May 4. As per the report in the Wire, a zero first information report (FIR) had been filed by the Saikul police, in Kangpokpi district, on May 18. One of the women was gang-raped, the FIR filed in connection with the incident says.
Details of the FIR
As per the Wire report, the zero FIR has charges of rape and murder against “unknown miscreants” numbering “800-1,000”. The complaint filed against the incident claims that these men are suspected to be “members of Meitei Youth Organisations, Meetei Leepun, Kangleipak Kanba Lup, Arambai Tenggol and World Meitei Council, Schedule Tribe Demand Committee”.
The said mob of men has been accused of burning down houses in the B Phainom village, and accosting a group of five people who were fleeing. There were two men and three women in the group. According to the complaint, the group was “snatched away from the custody” of a police team from the Nongpok Sekmai police station near Toubul (Sekmai khunou) “about 2 km from Nongpok Sekmai PS and about 3 km from 33 AR Somrei Post”.
One of the men, father of the gang raped girl, was killed immediately by the mob. He was 56 years old, as reported by the Quint. The mob then forced all the three women to strip. It is purported that the younger woman, aged 21, was gang-raped while the other two women escaped. When the brother of the woman who was being raped tried to stop the assault, he was also murdered. He was 19 years old.
As per a report in The Print, the men screamed, “We will do to you what your men did to our women.” Revisiting the ordeal, one of the survivors, who is in her 40s, told that they wanted to take “revenge for the Churachandpur case.”
She was referring to a false claim that a Meitei nurse working in Churachandpur was raped by a tribal mob on 3 May, which led to ‘revenge rapes’ by Meitei groups. The claim, however, was debunked when the victim’s father clarified on a news channel that nothing had happened to her.
Another survivor told Scroll.in that she was told to “lie down” after the mob dragged her to the paddy field. “I did as they told me, and three men surrounded me… One of them told the other, ‘let’s rape her’, but ultimately they did not,” she told the publication.
Response from the Manipur Police:
In an official response to the alleged video, the Superintendent of Police (SP), K Meghachandra Singh issued a press note stating that the Manipur police is making “all-out effort” to arrest the culprits who were involved in the incident. The police provided that a case of abduction, gang-rape and murder was registered in relation to the incident.
The press note stated, “As regards the video of 2 women paraded naked by unknown armed miscreants on 4th May 2023, a case of abduction, gang rape and murder was registered at Nongpok Sekmai Police Station (Thoubal district) against unknown armed miscreants. Investigation has started and the state police is making an all-out effort to arrest the culprits at the earliest.”
An outrage- too little, too late
The surfacing of the said video, 77 days after the incident, has caused a public outrage, enough to make all the silent spectators turn their attention to the atrocities taking place in Manipur. According to sources, the Centre asked Twitter and other social media platforms to pull down the video as the matter is under investigation.
Union Minister for Women and Child Welfare Smriti Irani also responded to the alleged video after speaking to the state chief minister. Irani posted on Twitter saying, ‘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.’
The opposition leaders and commentators immediately questioned why there had been a two-month gap, 76 days to be apt, in the Union minister’s knowledge of the incident in response to Smriti Irani’s statement. Several other Opposition leaders called for Singh’s resignation. Priyanka Chaturvedi, MP Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), said that Irani’s response came two months too late. “Stop it Mantriji, your obnoxious silence on the women wrestlers too makes it clear your intent is to only save a seat in the cabinet,” she said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had maintained silence over the atrocities and violence taking place in Manipur, made his first statement over this incident outside the Parliament, just ahead of the start of the Monsoon session.
“I assure the people that the guilty will not be spared and the law will act with its full might. What has happened to the daughters of Manipur can’t be forgiven. It is a shameful incident for any country, this is an insult of the country. The 140-crore people of this countries are being shamed,” Modi said adding that he has urged Chief Ministers to strength law and order especially to protect women.
He further said “I want to assure my countrymen nobody will be spared. The law will take its course. The incident will not be pardoned ever.”
The statement of PM Modi came out after Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra condemned the horrific crime, and AAP issued a statement seeking PM Modi’s intervention.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter that Modi’s silence and inaction has led Manipur into anarchy.
“INDIA will not stay silent while the idea of India is being attacked in Manipur,” he said, referring to the recently-formed alliance of 26 Opposition parties. “We stand with the people of Manipur. Peace is the only way forward.”
The above-mentioned statement made by PM Modi is the first one of its kind. Notably, till now, the ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities have spiraled into a civil war since May 3. Over 140 people have been killed while more than 60,000 have been displaced and hundreds of relief camps have been established.
It is further essential to point out that when the European Parliament adopted a motion on the Manipur violence, on July 12, and stated that it “denounces in the strongest terms nationalistic rhetoric deployed by leading members of the BJP party”, the Indian government had responded to the said motion by claiming that the issue of Manipur is an “internal matter.”
Blind eye to the protest of the Kuki women in Delhi, all efforts to meet the PM before this were unsuccessful.
The video of women being paraded naked was successful in getting the attention of the Union government, something which multiple organised protests and delegations have been unsuccessful in doing. It is essential to highlight here on June 10, a group of women from Manipur’s Kuki community had staged a candlelight vigil at Jantar Mantar to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in Manipur violence. Scores of women from the Kuki community had gathered with candles.
In addition to this, through a memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they sought his intervention to bring back normalcy in the state. They also demanded to include immediate imposition of President’s rule in Manipur, permanent solution through separate administration, more deployment of central forces and neutral officers at conflict zones, security at mortuary and hospitals.
Before this, on June 7, people from the Kuki community had held a protest outside Union Home Minister Amit Shah‘s residence here against the ongoing violence in the northeastern state. As per reports, the protesters had held placards with messages such as ‘Save Kuki Lives’ and raising slogans.
Even before this, on May 30, around 500 Manipuri Kuki-Zo women had staged a demonstration at Jantar Mantar, demanding that President’s Rule, under Article 356 of the Constitution, be imposed in the State of Manipur as an immediate measure to control the violence. The women, most of whom still have family and friends in different parts of Manipur, had decided to demonstrate at Jantar Mantar as a desperate call for the Union government to strongly intervene and end the violence, which, they alleged, was being perpetrated with assistance from State government law enforcement officials.
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