- Thursday, February 27, 2025
The incident happened on May 4, a day after the ethnic clashes started, in Kangpokpi district of the state, located about 35 kilometres from state capital Imphal, said a tribal body.
By: Shubham Ghosh
IF ethnic clashes were not enough to keep the north-eastern Indian state of Manipur in the headlines, here is another incident that occurred during the violence that would rub more salts into its wounds.
A horrific video from the state surfaced on social media on Wednesday (19) showing two women being paraded naked and sexually assaulted on a village road by a mob, causing a massive outrage. The two women were allegedly gang-raped in a nearby field, a tribal body has claimed. It was also said that the mob turned against the two women after beating two men to death.
The incident happened on May 4, a day after the ethnic clashes started, in Kangpokpi district of the state, located about 35 kilometres from state capital Imphal, as per a statement made by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), an NDTV report said.
On May 3, clashes broke out between the dominant Meitei community and the Kuki tribe over the former’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.
The ITLF, which represents the Kukis, said in the statement that the two women belong to the Kuki-Zo tribe.
“A video which went viral today shows a large Meitei mob parading two Kuki-Zo tribal women naked toward a paddy field to be gang-raped. The despicable scene, which happened on May 4 in Kangpokpi district, shows the men constantly molesting the helpless women, who cry and plead with their captors,” the ITLF said in the statement, the NDTV report added.
The forum also said that the ordeal suffered by the women was amplified by the perpetrators’ decision to share the disturbing video on social media, revealing the victims’ identities.
It also appealed to the National Commission for Women and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes to take action.
The state police was yet to issue a statement on the matter and it was not known yet whether anybody was arrested in connection with the incident.
Political parties, journalists and others expressed deep shock over the incident and appealed to both the state government and the Narendra Modi government in New Delhi to take action against the culprits. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party is in power both at the centre and in Manipur.
“Disturbing videos emerging from Manipur about a woman belonging to a particular community being paraded naked by a mob. There is total breakdown in the relationships of the two communities there. Hate has won in Manipur,” Tripura’s Tipra Motha Party chief Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma tweeted.
“Attention India. The modesty of two tribal women from Manipur were outraged on 4th May. They were paraded naked, fondled and beaten in full public glare. A disturbing video taken by a perpetrator leaked and got viral today. This breaks all level of humanity,” Manipur resident and journalist Hoihnu Hauzel tweeted.
Meanwhile, parliamentary affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday said the Modi government was ready for a discussion on the situation in Manipur during the monsoon session of Parliament, but termed a “caveat for disruption” the opposition’s demand for a statement by Modi on the matter.
More than 100 people have been killed in the clashes while several thousands have either been injured or rendered homeless in Manipur in the past two-and-half months.
