NEW DELHI: A video of a mob parading two women naked in the violence-hit northeastern state of Manipur has sparked outrage in India and put further spotlight on the ethnic conflict in the remote region bordering Myanmar.
The video shows the women from a minority tribal group being brutalised by men belonging to another community.
“The horrific video of sexual assault of two women emanating from Manipur is condemnable and downright inhuman,” Smriti Irani, a minister in the federal government, said on Wednesday.
Irani said Manipur’s chief minister N Biren Singh has informed her that an investigation is underway and “no effort will be spared to bring perpetrators to justice.”
The mob attack reportedly took place in the Kangpokpi district on May 4 following clashes between the majority Meitei community and the tribal people.
“The media reports based on a video emerging out of Manipur allegedly showing a mob of Meitei men assaulting and parading two tribal Kuki women naked to gang-rape them is a shocking reminder of the scale and severity of the ongoing impunity in the state,” Amnesty India tweeted.
“So angry watching the video of 2 Kuki women in Manipur. This incident happened in May, no arrests. Which means these men are walking around, free, nonchalant, emboldened,” Sarah Jacob, a journalist, said in a tweet.
The Manipur state police said on Wednesday “it is making all-out effort to arrest the culprits at the earliest.”
About 150 people have been killed and hundreds injured since May 3, when the violence first broke out over a move to grant the special tribal status to the comparatively well-off Meitei community, whose members make up a little over half of the state’s 3.2 million population.
The Meitei demand for inclusion under the Scheduled Tribe category, which would grant them benefits in government jobs, education and access to forest land, is fiercely opposed by Kukis, Nagas and other tribal groups, who fear being marginalised.
Meiteis are largely Hindu and dominant in the Imphal Valley whereas Kukis and Nagas are mainly Christian and mostly inhabit the less-developed hill areas.
About 50,000 people fled their homes following the orgy of violence in May during which thousands of homes, businesses as well as places of worship were burnt.
Heavy deployment of army and paramilitary personnel has brought the situation under relative calm while tensions persist.
Normal internet services remain shut in Manipur. – Reuters
