GUWAHATI: A video from May 4 showing a large crowd of men walking past two naked women in Kangpokpi District of Manipur This Wednesday it went viral on social media.
The Manipur Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), a conglomerate of the state’s recognized tribes, said in a statement that the video is “evidence of the atrocities committed” in the state. The forum said the “despicable scene, which occurred on May 4 in Kangpokpi district, shows the men constantly harassing helpless women who cry and plead with their captors” as they are led “to a rice paddy to be gang-raped.”
The forum said the incident occurred in the village of B Phainom after it was set on fire and two men were beaten to death by the mob.
A relative of one of the female victims had filed a zero FIR at the Saikul police station on the day of the incident, May 4. The case was subsequently referred to the Nongpok Sekmai Police Station in Thoubal District and registered.
The FIR stated that after a crowd of 900 to 1,000 raided the village of B Phainom, five villagers, two men and three women, escaped into a nearby forest. When the Nongpok Sekmai police rescued them, the mob snatched the five from police custody and killed one of the men, Soitinkam Vaiphei, 56, on the spot and forced the three women to strip naked in front of them and one of the women was “brutally gang-raped in broad daylight”.
The other man and brother of the rape victim, who tried to protect his sister’s modesty, was also killed by the mob, the FIR said. Later, with the help of some locals, the three women managed to escape the scene, the FIR said.
“The 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,” the forum said.
The Manipur Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), a conglomerate of the state’s recognized tribes, said in a statement that the video is “evidence of the atrocities committed” in the state. The forum said the “despicable scene, which occurred on May 4 in Kangpokpi district, shows the men constantly harassing helpless women who cry and plead with their captors” as they are led “to a rice paddy to be gang-raped.”
The forum said the incident occurred in the village of B Phainom after it was set on fire and two men were beaten to death by the mob.
A relative of one of the female victims had filed a zero FIR at the Saikul police station on the day of the incident, May 4. The case was subsequently referred to the Nongpok Sekmai Police Station in Thoubal District and registered.
The FIR stated that after a crowd of 900 to 1,000 raided the village of B Phainom, five villagers, two men and three women, escaped into a nearby forest. When the Nongpok Sekmai police rescued them, the mob snatched the five from police custody and killed one of the men, Soitinkam Vaiphei, 56, on the spot and forced the three women to strip naked in front of them and one of the women was “brutally gang-raped in broad daylight”.
The other man and brother of the rape victim, who tried to protect his sister’s modesty, was also killed by the mob, the FIR said. Later, with the help of some locals, the three women managed to escape the scene, the FIR said.
“The 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,” the forum said.
“The ITLF vehemently condemns the disgusting act and demands that the central and state governments, the National Commission for Women and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes acknowledge the crime and take all necessary steps to bring the culprits to justice,” said the statement from Ginza Vualzong of the forum’s media and publicity wing.
A statement issued by the Manipur police said that all efforts are being made to catch the culprits. A case of kidnapping, gang rape and murder, etc. was registered. in Nongpok Semai PS (Thoubal District) against unknown armed criminals and the investigation has been launched.