Outraged and shamed, India condemns the heinous act in which two women from a tribal community were paraded naked and assaulted by a few men from the rival group.
Video of two women assaulted from Manipur goes viral. (iStock)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the sexual assault of two women in Manipur as “shameful” and promised that the guilty will not be spared.
The prime minister made the statement ahead of Parliament’s monsoon session on Thursday, 20 July. The statement was his first since ethnic violence broke out in the northeastern state bordering Myanmar on 3 May.
“Today, when I am standing by this temple of democracy my heart is full of pain and anger,” he told reporters, a day after a 26-second video surfaced on the internet, purportedly of a mob dragging, groping, and parading two women naked through a road in the now-turbulent hilly state.
The incident is supposed to have happened on 4 May.
The prime minister’s statement came even as the Opposition parties condemned his silence on the months-long bloodshed, and the government’s inability to contain the violence.
“I want to assure the countrymen that no one guilty will be spared. The law will act with its full might and firmness… What has happened to these daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,” he said.
Taking suo motu cognizance of the “unacceptable” incident, the Supreme Court of India directed the Union and Manipur governments to initiate immediate action.
“We will give a little time for the government to take action otherwise we will step in,” Chief Justice DY Chandrachud warned, while seeking details of the action taken, Live Law reported.
“Using women as instruments in an area of communal strife to inflict gender violence is deeply deeply disturbing. This is the grossest of human rights violations,” the chief justice said on Wednesday.
The court had earlier sought the presence of Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta in the morning.
Soon after the prime minister’s statement, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said the police had arrested one person in connection with the crime.
“A thorough investigation is currently underway and we will ensure strict action is taken against all the perpetrators, including considering the possibility of capital punishment. Let it be known, there is absolutely no place for such heinous acts in our society,” he said in a tweet.
State officials said several police teams were formed soon after the video had surfaced. One of the men seen in the video — suspected to be the mastermind — was arrested from the Thoubal district.
The police, on Wednesday, said a case of abduction, gang rape, and murder was registered at the Nongpok Sekmai police station in Thoubal against unknown armed miscreants and that all efforts were on to arrest the culprits at the earliest.
A day after the video went viral, one of the victims told The Indian Express that they had been “left to the mob by the police”.
“The police were there with the mob which was attacking our village. The police picked us up from near our home, took us a little away from the village, and left us on the road with the mob. We were given to them by the police,” she said.
My hearts go out to the two women who were subjected to a deeply disrespectful and inhumane act, as shown in the distressing video that surfaced yesterday. After taking a Suo-moto cognisance of the incident immediately after the video surfaced, the Manipur Police swung to action…
— N.Biren Singh (Modi Ka Parivar) (@NBirenSingh) July 20, 2023
The incident happened on 4 May, but the video was circulated only now due to an internet ban in Manipur.
The video showed two women, one aged 21 and another 45, belonging to one of the warring groups, being paraded naked by a group of men who were also seen groping them. The men belonged to the rival group.
The incident reportedly happened at the B Phainom village in the multi-ethnic Kangpokpi district, some 40 km from Imphal, the state capital. Incidentally, the video surfaced on the eve of a planned protest march by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), to highlight their plight.
An ITLF spokesperson said the “despicable scene” showed men constantly molesting the helpless women, who were crying and pleading for mercy.
“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,” he said.
Condemning the “sickening act”, the ITLF demanded the Union and state governments, National Commission for Women, and National Commission for Scheduled Tribes take cognizance of the offence and bring the culprits to book.
Reports said a fake video was the trigger for the beastly act.
Union Minister Smriti Irani, holding the portfolios of Women and Child Development, and Minority Affairs termed the incident “condemnable and downright inhuman”. The minister said she had spoken to Biren Singh.
Manipur has been witnessing ethnic clashes for the past more than two months between the Meiteis, concentrated in Imphal valley, and the Kukis, occupying the hills. Over 160 people have been killed in the violence so far.
The horrific video of sexual assault of 2 women emanating from Manipur is condemnable and downright inhuman. Spoke to CM @NBirenSingh ji who has informed me that investigation is currently underway & assured that no effort will be spared to bring perpetrators to justice.
— Smriti Z Irani (Modi Ka Parivar) (@smritiirani) July 19, 2023
After Prime Minister Modi’s statement on the Manipur incident, the Congress accused him of playing politics by mentioning Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh while “breaking his silence” on the Northeastern state and said it was “too little, too late” and “mere words won’t do anymore”.
Assembly elections were scheduled for later this year in Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. While saying the violence would not be allowed, Modi clubbed these two states with Manipur.
Hitting out at Modi, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said after more than 1,800 hours of an “incomprehensible and unforgivable silence”, the prime minister finally spoke on Manipur for a sum total of 30 seconds.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, too, hit out at Modi over the situation in Manipur and said: “INDIA will not stay silent while the idea of India is being attacked” in the northeastern state.
INDIA is the abbreviation for the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, a front of 26 Opposition parties formed on 18 July to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
PM’s silence and inaction have led Manipur into anarchy.
INDIA will not stay silent while the idea of India is being attacked in Manipur.
We stand with the people of Manipur. Peace is the only way forward.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 19, 2023
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also condemned the heart-wrenching sexual violence against women.
“No amount of condemnation is enough for this horrific incident of violence against women. Women and children have to bear the maximum brunt of violence in the society,” she said in a tweet put out in Hindi.
“We must all condemn the violence in one voice while furthering the efforts for peace in Manipur,” Priyanka Gandhi said.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said it has been 78 days since full-scale ethnic violence broke out in Manipur and 77 days since the ghastly incident in which two women were stripped, paraded, and allegedly raped.
“As the Monsoon Session (of Parliament) starts today, INDIA will demand answers. Break your silence prime minister!” the Congress leader said.
AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Narendra Modi government of turning democracy into “mobocracy”.
He said that “humanity has died in Manipur” and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak about the ethnic violence-hit state in Parliament and tell the nation what happened.
Humanity has died in Manipur.
Modi Govt and the BJP have changed Democracy and the rule of law into Mobocracy by destroying the delicate social fabric of the state. @narendramodi ji,
India will never forgive your silence.
If there is any conscience or an iota of shame left…
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) July 20, 2023
BRS working president and Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao urged Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to set aside everything and use all their time to save the Northeastern state.
He said Indians were raging against the Taliban when they were disrespecting children and women, and in India, that women were being paraded naked and sexually assaulted was a distressing and nauseous reminder of how barbarism has been normalised in new India.
The silence of the Union Government on the issue has further intensified the distress of the affected community and citizens at large, he further said.
We Indians were raging against Taliban when they were disrespecting children & women
Now in our own country, Kuki women being paraded naked and sexually assaulted by the Meitei mob in Manipur is a distressing & nauseous reminder of how barbarism has been normalised in new India.
— KTR (@KTRBRS) July 20, 2023
DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said he was appalled by the “violence unleashed on women” in Manipur and demanded the Centre take action to restore peace.
“Absolutely heartbroken and appalled by the agonising violence unleashed on women in Manipur. Where is our collective conscience? The hate and venom are uprooting the very soul of humanity,” he tweeted.
Absolutely heartbroken and appalled by the agonising violence unleashed on women in #Manipur. Where is our collective conscience? The hate and venom are uprooting the very soul of humanity. We must stand united against such atrocities and work towards fostering a society of…
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) July 20, 2023
The Trinamool Congress has said the party would raise the issue in Parliament while condemning the incident against women.
A five-member delegation of TMC MPs visited two relief camps each in Churachandpur, one of the most affected districts, and Imphal Valley.
The leaders also called on Governor Anusuiya Ukiye at the Raj Bhavan in Imphal.
“People told us about their pain. The relief materials provided to the relief camps in both hills areas and the valley are not sufficient. Those camps should get sufficient relief,” TMC Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee told reporters.
The TMC also urged the prime minister to break his “78-day silence and stand by the people of Manipur.”
The party tweeted: “Blood-curdling visuals have emerged from Manipur where two women… were paraded naked & sexually assaulted by a large group of men. What is stopping the Centre from dispatching fact-finding teams & commissions to Manipur? Why is the WCD Minister still silent on the matter?”
Blood-curdling visuals have emerged from Manipur where two women, reportedly from Kuki-Zo community, were paraded naked & sexually assaulted by a large group of men.
What is stopping the Centre from dispatching fact-finding teams & commissions to Manipur? Why is the WCD Minister…
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) July 19, 2023
Condemning the incident, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged Prime Minister Modi to pay attention to the prevailing situation in the state and ensure strict action against the culprits.
(With PTI inputs)
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