- By Cherylann Mollan
- BBC News, Mumbai
Jul 20, 2023 at 5:35 am BST
Updated 1 hour ago
Image source: Getty Images
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Manipur has been rocked by ethnic clashes since May
A video showing two women being paraded naked by a mob in northeastern Manipur state, which has been ravaged by violent ethnic clashes, has sparked outrage in India.
Police say they have opened a gang rape case and arrested one man, adding that others will be detained soon.
On Thursday, the parliamentary session in Delhi was adjourned as lawmakers called for a debate on the issue.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said the incident “shamed India” and “no culprit will be spared”.
“I assure the nation that the law will pursue its course with all its might. What happened to the Daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,” he said, finally breaking his silence on Manipur, more than two months after the violence erupted.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud also expressed concern about the attack, saying the Supreme Court was “deeply disturbed by the video”. The chief justice asked the government to inform the court of the steps taken against the accused, saying: “We will take action if you don’t.”
Deadly violence has plunged Manipur, a scenic Indian state bordering Myanmar, into turmoil for more than two months.
Clashes between members of the Meitei majority and the Kuki tribal communities led to their complete segregation. At least 130 people died and 60,000 were displaced.
The two women, who are Kukis, were attacked by men from the Meitei group.
Warning: This article contains details that may concern some readers.
According to police, the attack on the women took place on May 4, but made national headlines on Thursday after the video went viral on social media. The federal government has asked all social media companies to delete the video from their platforms.
The horrific video of the two women was shared widely on social media on Wednesday. It shows them being dragged and groped by a crowd, who then push them into a field.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) said in a statement that the atrocities were committed in a village in Kangpokpi district against women from the Kuki-Zo tribal community. It was also alleged that the women had been raped multiple times.
Women’s bodies have become a battlefield
By Geeta Pandey, BBC News, Delhi
It is well known that in riots and conflicts, women’s bodies often become the battlefield and rape and sexual assault are used as tools of violence to punish them.
The sexual assault on the Kuki women in Manipur is the most recent example. The footage of the women crying, flinching in pain and begging their attackers for mercy is disturbing to watch.
The fact that the first arrest was made more than two months after the attack was reported to police does not inspire confidence among the authorities, all the more so given that many of the men are clearly identifiable in the footage.
But the outrage that followed the video’s emergence in India has put the horrific crime in the spotlight. It also raised questions about the state’s failure to comfort survivors – eventually forcing Mr Modi to issue a statement on the ethnic violence tearing Manipur apart.
In order to restore some level of trust in Manipur, particularly among the Kuki minority, the authorities are now under pressure to take swift action against the perpetrators and bring justice to the women. People across the country feel that this shouldn’t happen in modern India.
“The gang rape of the women occurred after the village burned down and two men – one middle-aged and another in their teens – were beaten to death by the crowd,” the ITLF said.
However, a police complaint filed by a relative of one of the women stated that only one of them had been gang raped. It added that a third woman had been forced to undress, but she is not in the video.
police called that the incident occurred on May 4 and that one case of kidnapping, gang rape and murder had been registered in Thoubal district.
The attack was condemned by politicians from all parties.
Federal Minister Smriti Irani, called it was “almost inhuman”.
Several opposition leaders have also criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party government for not doing enough to curb violence in the state.
Congress Party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadhra called that the “images of sexual violence against women from Manipur are heartbreaking”.
The Prime Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, also had his say. “This kind of heinous act cannot be tolerated in Indian society,” he said.
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