Before parading women naked in Manipur, mob killed people & torched houses: FIR

The FIR registered in connection with the parading of two women naked in Manipur, charged that before abducting them, a group of armed men came to the village in Kangpokpi district and torched and looted houses, attacked people killing some besides sexually assaulting women.

The FIR, a copy of which is available with PTI, claimed that one person was killed by the mob as he tried to protect his sister from being raped on May 4 before the two were paraded naked and molested in front of others.

“Around 900-1000 persons carrying sophisticated weapons like AK rifles, SLR, INSAS and .303 rifles forcefully entered our village ... in Island subdivision, Kangpokpi district, about 68 km south from Saikul police station.

“The violent mob vandalised all the houses and burnt them to the ground after looting all the moveable properties,” the FIR lodged at Saikul police station claimed.

They took away cash, furniture, electronic items, foodgrains, furniture and cattle heads, it said.

The mob also snatched away five people who were rescued by police personnel from a nearby forest, the FIR claimed.

The police arrested four people in connection with parading the women naked and molesting them a day after a video showing their humiliation surfaced on July 19. The arrests were made a day after the video surfaced, the complaint in this connection was lodged around a month ago – June 21 – at Saikul police station in Kangpokpi district.

Meanwhile, the husband of one of two women paraded naked and molested by a group of men is a Kargil war veteran who rued that though he protected the country but could not save his wife from being humiliated.

The husband had served the Indian Army as a Subedar of the Assam Regiment.

“I fought for the nation in the Kargil war and was also in Sri Lanka as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force. I protected the nation but am dejected that I could not protect my wife and fellow villagers,” he told a local news channel.

He said that on the fateful May 4 morning, a mob burnt down several houses in the locality, disrobed the two women and made them walk on the village paths in front of people.

"Police were present but took no action. I want that all those people who burnt the houses and humiliated the women get exemplary punishment," he said.

More than 150 people have lost their lives, and several injured since ethnic violence broke out in the state 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 Manipur'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.