Days after a video of two women from the Kuki-Zomi community being paraded naked and sexually assaulted in Manipur surfaced, four people — including prime accused — have been arrested over their involvement in the case, police said.
One of the alleged perpetrators was arrested on Thursday morning, the state police said. The 32-year-old man, identified as Huirem Heradas Singh, was arrested from Thoubal district after the video of the women went viral. In the video, the man, dressed in a green T-shirt, was seen dragging one of the women. The details of the other accused is yet to be known.
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On Thursday, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said a thorough investigation is underway into the incident and said strict action, including possible capital punishment, will follow.
The arrests came amid widespread condemnation of the police and the state government, in view of the huge gap between the crime and the surfacing of the video. Very little headway was made in the 70-plus days since the case was filed. The incident took place on May 4, a day after ethnic clashes broke out in the state, and an FIR was filed on May 18.
The members of the Kuki community also carried out a protest march in the state’s Churachandpur. The agitators were dressed in black clothes. They demanded strict action against the men who paraded the two women and sexually assaulted them.
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Manipur violence
More than 150 people have been killed and several injured since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3, when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of the state’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mostly in the hill districts.