One arrested for making women parade naked in Manipur
Imphal (IANS). The Manipur Police on Thursday arrested a man in connection with the gruesome incident of two women being paraded naked and gang-raped by a mob in Thoubal district on May 4. Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said, the government will consider death penalty for the accused.
Confirming the arrest of the case, Biren Singh, who is handling the Home Department, said that the investigation is currently underway and his government will ensure that strict action is taken against all the perpetrators, including the possibility of capital punishment.
In a tweet, the chief minister said, “My condolences to the two women who were subjected to the most humiliating and inhuman act as shown in the video that surfaced yesterday.” Taking cognizance of the incident after the video surfaced, the Manipur Police swung into action and made the first arrest on Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, a top police official said that soon after the video of the incident surfaced on Wednesday, a case was registered against unidentified armed miscreants at Thoubal’s Nongpok Sekmai police station and a massive search was launched to nab the culprits. .
The official told IANS, “The state police is making all efforts to arrest the culprits at the earliest. We will be able to arrest more accused by this evening. The search operation is also being carried out in the adjoining districts by the Manipur Police and other security forces.”
The official said that several police teams have been formed under the leadership of senior officers for a comprehensive search to nab the culprits.
The May 4 incident happened just a day after ethnic violence broke out in which hundreds of people have been killed and thousands have been forced to be displaced from their homes.
According to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), the two women were also gang-raped in a paddy field after being paraded naked.
The Forum said that since May 3, evidence of atrocities on the Kuki tribals is continuously coming to the fore.
“A video that went viral on Wednesday shows a large Meitei mob driving two Kuki-zo tribal women naked to a paddy field for gang-rape. The disgusting scenes, which took place on May 4, showed men molesting helpless women, who cried and begged to be left, ITLF spokesman Ginza Wualzong said in the statement.
The spokesman said the gang rape took place within the limits of B Phenom village, which was burnt down.
He also claimed that a middle-aged man and a teenager were lynched by a mob in the same village.
The ITLF said that “the agony of the innocent women was further aggravated by the perpetrators sharing that video, which also exposed their identity.”
“The ITLF strongly condemns this heinous act and calls upon the Central and State Governments, the National Commission for Women and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes to take cognizance of the crime and take all necessary measures to bring the culprits to justice,” the statement said. “
