2 women paraded naked and allegedly gang-raped in Manipur violence. A horrifying video of two women being paraded naked on a road in Manipur by a gang of men has gone viral on social media, eliciting widespread condemnation and calls for action.
A tribal organization claims the two women were gang-raped in a field.
According to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), the incident occurred on May 4 in Kangpokpi district, around 35 kilometres from the state capital Imphal.
Conflict erupted the day before this on-camera tragedy between the valley-majority Meitei and the hill-majority Kuki tribes over the Meiteis’ demand for Scheduled Tribes (ST) recognition.
The ITLF, which represents the Kuki tribe, in the statement, said the two women belong to the Kuki-Zo tribe.
“A video that went viral today shows a large Meitei mob parading two Kuki-Zo tribal women naked toward a paddy field to be gang-raped. The despicable scene, which happened on May 4 in Kangpokpi district, shows the men constantly molesting the helpless women, who cry and plead with their captors,” the ITLF said in the statement.
“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,” the ITLF said and appealed to the National Commission for Women and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes to take action.
Ad 2 women paraded naked and allegedly gang-raped in Manipur violence, the Manipur Police in a tweet today said they have filed a case of gang rape and murder.
“As regards the viral videos of two women paraded naked by unknown armed miscreants on May 4, a case of abduction, gang-rape and murder was filed at Nongpok Sekmai police station (Thoubal district)… The investigation has started. The state police is making all-out efforts to arrest the culprits at the earliest,” the Manipur Police tweeted.
Political leaders and others have expressed shock over the Manipur incident on social media and asked the centre and the state government to take action against the men involved in the horrific act.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted in Hindi that pictures of sexual violence against women coming from Manipur are heart-wrenching. “The amount of condemnation of this horrific incident of violence against women is less. Women and children have to bear the maximum brunt of violence in society,” she tweeted.
“Disturbing videos emerging from Manipur about a woman belonging to a particular community being paraded naked by a mob. There is a total breakdown in the relationships of the two communities there. Hate has won in Manipur,” Tripura’s Tipra Motha Party chief Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma tweeted.
“Attention India. The modesty of two tribal women from Manipur were outraged on 4th May. They were paraded naked, fondled and beaten in full public glare. A disturbing video taken by a perpetrator leaked and got viral today. This breaks all levels of humanity,” Manipur resident and journalist Hoihnu Hauzel tweeted.
Since May 4, the internet has been down in the BJP-ruled state of Manipur. The state is still seeing intermittent violence.
The Kuki tribe has requested the resignation of Chief Minister N Biren Singh. Over 120 people have died as a result of the ethnic violence, and hundreds have been internally displaced and are now living in relief camps.
