A video of two women being paraded naked by a mob in Manipur's Kangpokpi district during the riot on May 4 went viral on Wednesday, leaving many shocked and angry in the conflict-hit state.
The video shows a mob comprising men constantly molesting the two women while they were being taken towards a paddy field. The victims were seen crying for help.
Confirming the incident, a statement issued by the Manipur Police on Wednesday evening said efforts were under way to arrest the culprits. It said a case of abduction, gangrape and murder was registered at Nongpok Sekmai police station in Thoubal district against the unknown armed miscreants and an investigation has begun. The state police are making an all-out effort to arrest the culprits at the earliest, it said.
Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), a forum of the Kuki tribe on Wednesday said the two women belong to Kuki-Zo tribe. It also said the two women were later gang-raped.
"The gang-rape of the women in B. Phainom village happened after the village was burnt down and two men, one middle-aged and another a teenager, were brutally beaten to death by the mob. 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," ITLF said in a statement on Wednesday.
The clashes between sections of majority Meitei and Kuki tribe started on May 3 in Churachandpur district, soon after a "solidarity march" was organised by tribal groups opposing the move to accord ST status to the Meiteis. Over 140 people have been killed and over 60,000 others have been left displaced due to the violence since then.
The video surfaced on the eve of a rally by the ITLF to be held in the Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district to press the demand for a "separate administration" for the Kukis.
"The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum vehemently condemns the sickening act and demands that the central and state governments, National Commission for Women, and National Commission for Scheduled Tribes take cognizance of the offense and take all necessary measures to bring justice to the culprits," the ITLF statement said.
Sources said an FIR was lodged at Saikul Police Station in Kangpokpi district by headman of B. Phainom village, Hangboi Vaiphei, following the incident.
The members of Girl Up Manipur and Eta Northeast Women's Network, two women rights organizations also condemned the incident and called them “monstrous and barbaric act” targeting women and lamented that such “social evil and menaces” is intolerable amidst this strife-torn situation in Manipur.
Joint Unau Tribal Students’ Forum Delhi (JUTSFD) also condemned the incident and demanded action against those involved in the crime.
Pradyot Deb Barma, Chief of Tipra Motha, a regional party in Tripura, also expressed shock over the video.