A day after horrific videos of two naked women belonging to the Kuki community being paraded by armed men surfaced on the internet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured that the culprits involved in the crime will not be spared. Addressing the media, outside the Parliament, ahead of the Monsoon session, PM Modi said, “My heart is filled with grief and anger. The incident which came to light in Manipur is shameful in any civilised society. Those who committed the sin despite staying put in one place have brought shame to the entire country. The 140 crore population of this country are facing the shame of it. I am appealing to the Chief Ministers of all the states to strengthen law and order in their respective states to protect the mothers and sisters of the country.”
The PM also mentioned the atrocities against women in the Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. “No matter where the atrocity; be it in Rajasthan, Chattisgarh or Manipur, in any corner of this country, we deeply value law and order and highly respect women.”
Modi said that no culprit involved in the sexual violence against women in Manipur would be spared. “Law with its entire might will take steps one after the other. What happened to Manipur’s women will never be forgiven.”
On Wednesday, a distressing video of two naked women belonging to the Kuki community, being paraded by unidentified armed men from the conflict-affected Manipur state surfaced on the internet. One of the women captured by the mob was allegedly gangraped. The incident took place on May 4, a day after the ethnic violence between the majority Meitei and Kuki communities erupted.
The horrific crime took place in B Phainom, Kangpokpi district, following clashes over the controversial demand to include Hindu Meities into the Scheduled Tribes category.
The mob had captured three women and two men in the incident who were fleeing the village as the Meitei mobs went on a rampage setting houses on fire.
While the men including a 19-year-old were killed, the women were subjected to sexual violence. The victims were a man aged 56, his 19-year-old son, 21-year-old daughter; and two other women aged 42 and 52.
One of the survivors who spoke to Scroll recalled that they tried fleeing the village after learning that the Meitei mobs were attacking the neighbouring village.
As per the police complaint, the victims were rescued by police as they attempted to run into the forest for hiding. Though they were rescued by the police, the violent mob forcibly seized them from the police custody.
The mob immediately killed the 56-year-old, and all the three women were forced to remove their clothes. The 21-year-old woman was gang raped. Her 19-year-old brother who resisted the sexual violence against her sister was killed on the spot, Scroll said, quoting the police First Information Report.
“When we resisted, they told me: ‘if you don’t take off your clothes, we will kill you,” one of the survivors told Scroll. The women were physically assaulted, she said, adding that she was aware of the gang rape of the 21-year-old, because the crime spot was some distance away.
Following outrage on social media over the video, the Modi-government on Thursday, July 20 directed social media companies against circulating the videos.