A video showing two naked women being beaten and dragged by a crowd in Manipur, a state in far northeast India bordering Myanmar that has been plagued by violent ethnic conflict since early May, has sparked riots in the country.
In the pictures, which have been circulating on social media since Wednesday (19/07), the women weep and beg the attackers for sympathy before being pushed into an open field where at least one of them would have been raped by the horde.
The episode happened on May 4 but has only now come to light after the recording went viral on social media the region is officially without internet access. However, relatives of the victims claim to have reported the case to authorities in May and have accused local police of neglect. They report that their village, in which members of the KukiZo ethnic group live, was attacked by a group of Meitei men and burned to the ground. Two of his relatives, the father and brother of one of the victims, were reportedly beaten to death and the police took no action to prevent scenes of violence.
The attack was allegedly motivated by false news about a KukiZo raping a Meitei woman and came amid a series of hostilities between the two groups that have left at least 140 dead and 60,000 displaced since early May.
Why are there ethnic conflicts in the region?
The conflicts are believed to have started after the predominantly Christian Kukis protested against the granting of special rights to the predominantly Hindu Meitei they are the region’s majority in terms of both population and politics such as quotas for access to schools and public offices. Despite the religious differences, however, the conflict would be more ethnic.
According to reports, the next day, May 5, two more KukiZo women were raped and killed by a group of at least six Meitei men.
Modi: “No offender is spared”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was criticized for not speaking out about the incident until the matter broke Manipur state is ruled by a Modi supporter who is of the Meitei ethnic group and vowed on Thursday that those responsible would be brought to justice and that “no perpetrator would be spared”.
“What happened to the Daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,” Modi said during a parliamentary session, describing the case as a disgrace to the country.
Also on Thursday, the police announced the opening of an investigation and the arrest of four suspects.
The European Parliament called for an end to the violence in Manipur and was criticized by India
Last week, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the Indian authorities to end the violence in Manipur and protect religious minorities, especially Christians. India’s Foreign Ministry responded by criticizing the resolution, calling it “interference” in internal affairs.
ra (AP, Portal, ots)