A video from the north-eastern state of Manipur has gone viral in India in which two women are forced to parade naked after probably being raped.
Since the beginning of May, the region has been devastated by the violent clashes between the Kuki communities (whose members are mainly Christians) and Meitei (especially Hindus).
The footage, which shows women being groped and harassed by a group of men, dates back to May 4 and is now causing outrage across the country.
The police opened an investigation into kidnapping, gang rape and later murder, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that “no culprit will be spared”, breaking for the first time his silence that had lasted for more than two months on what is happening in Manipur.
“I assure the nation that the law will take its course in full force. What happened with the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,” he added.
According to Msgr. Dominic Lumon, archbishop of Imphal, the capital of Manipur, “a complete collapse of humanity” is taking place. “I was shocked and saddened when I learned of this horrible story that has gone viral, a brutal violence that adds to other violations perpetrated against our women in the last three months,” he told AsiaNews .
At least 130 people have died since the clashes began and over 60,000 have been displaced. According to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum the violence was committed in the village of Nongpok Sekmai, in the Thoubal district, against women belonging to the Kuki tribe. “The gang rape of the women took place after the village was burned down and two men – one middle-aged and another teenager – were beaten to death by the mob,” the organization said.
According to police sources, the father and 19-year-old brother of the woman who was raped were killed as they tried to flee towards the forest. The brother was probably trying to protect his sister from her abuse. The first information report states that the police intervention was blocked by a crowd of about 900-1,000 people, some of whom were in possession of sophisticated weapons.
“It is very tragic that society is divided along sectarian lines,” Archbishop Lumon continued. “Recently a woman of the Naga ethnic group was brutally killed, instead we should hold our women in the highest consideration”.
The suffering is even greater in the camps for displaced people, explained the prelate: “Women have been uprooted from their homes, abandoned, they have left their communities, they have fled for their lives, and this in itself is traumatic. Furthermore, in some places relief materials and medicines are scarce and we are not able to bring aid because we would have to pass through the territories of communities in conflict with each other, so we ask the armed forces to drop relief materials by air”.
The central government in Delhi has asked Twitter and other social media platforms to pull the video as the matter is under investigation. However, although the complaint was first filed in Kangpokpi district on May 18 and the charge was transferred to Thoubal’s agents on June 21, no arrests have yet been made. “The police are doing everything possible to catch the culprits as soon as possible”, commented the archbishop.
