On July 20, the Supreme Court took suo-moto cognizance after a video of two Kuki women being paraded naked by a mob of men, allegedly from the Meitei community, in the state of Manipur surfaced on social media. The incident, which took place on May 4, has now shockingly made its way to the social media, 76 days after it happened.
The Supreme Court said that it is “deeply disturbed” by the video. Terming it “simply unacceptable”, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and comprising of Justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Misra directed the Centre and the state government to take immediate steps and apprise the apex court on what action has been taken.
“We are very deeply disturbed about the videos distributed yesterday. We are expressing our deep concern. It is time that the government steps and takes action. This is unacceptable,” Chandrachud said, adding that they are “aware that the video is from May 4th or 5th.”
In addition to directing the government to inform about the steps being taken and to ensure the accused are booked, the apex court also asserted that it will be forced to initiate action if the government does not.
“We will give a little time to the government to act otherwise we will take action if nothing is happening on the ground,” the bench issued a warning, condemning the video as a gross constitutional failure.
“Visuals that have appeared in the media indicate gross constitutional violation and infraction of human rights,” remarked the court, adding that “use of women as instruments of violence in a charged atmosphere is unacceptable in a constitutional democracy.” Demanding a report from the Centre and the N Biren Singh-led state government, the Supreme Court said it will take up the matter on July 28.
Notably, the Attorney-General for India and the Solicitor General of India were both present in the courtroom for the hearing. The CJI noted that the two senior most law officers of the government had been called to the court for this matter as the Supreme Court “as a whole was deeply disturbed”.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also commented that the incident was disturbing. “We agree that it is unacceptable. Steps are being taken,” the SG informed the bench, as reported by India Today. It is essential to note that the Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, has affirmed the Supreme Court on previous occasions that the “situation in Manipur was getting better”.
A deeper dive into the statements made by the state in the Supreme Court as it heard the case on Manipur violence can be read here.
In other news, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) planned a protest march following the surfacing of the video to draw attention to their plight.
“The horrifying ordeal suffered by these innocent women is amplified by the perpetrators’ decision to share the video, which shows the identity of the victims, on social media,” according to a spokesperson of ITLF.
Related:
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