Main Culprit in Manipur Women Naked Video Case Arrested
Video of two Kuki tribe women being paraded naked in Manipur sparks nationwide outrage, leading to arrests and demands for action from PM Modi and opposition parties.
A video that is circulating on social media, showing two Kuki tribe women being paraded naked by a mob in Manipur. The video is said to be of 4th May 2023. If you remember, on 3rd May 2023 clashes broke out between the Meitei community and Kuki tribal community in Manipur. ISH News had released videos about the riots in Manipur and the history behind it. You can see the video here on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trp0XPU6CEI
The incident of the women being paraded naked occurred in B Phainom village in Kangpokpi district on 4th May 2023. But the video went viral on 19th JUly 2023. As per reports, 3 women and 2 men were rescued by the police after the violence broke out in Manipur and were being taken to a police station when they were stopped by the mob. One of the men was killed immediately by the mob, which then forced all the women to strip. It is alleged that the women were gang raped before being paraded. When the brother of the woman who was being raped tried to stop the assault, he was also murdered. One of the survivors, who luckily escaped, said, “When we resisted, they told us, ‘If you don’t take off your clothes, we will kill you. I obeyed them to protect myself. The men slapped and punched me. Then dragged me to a paddy field near the road and asked me to lie down there. I did as they told me, and three men surrounded me. One of them told the other, ‘let’s rape her’, but ultimately they did not." The video has led to nationwide outrage with citizens, celebrities and politicians, everyone condemning the incident and asking the government to take strict action.
Providing an update on the matter, the Manipur CM N Biren Singh revealed that the police have arrested the main accused on 20th July 2023. He said, "It is a crime against humanity and if found true, the state government will give them capital punishment." The accused, identified as 32-year-old Heradas, was captured from the Thoubal district with the help of the viral video in which he can be seen wearing a green T-shirt. Several opposition parties, including the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), TMC, Shiv Sena (UBT), AIMIM, etc condemned the incident and slammed Modi for being silent on the Manipur issue since the last 2 months. Opposition parties also demanded that the CM of Manipur resign and President rule should be implemented in Manipur. From the time the riots started, PM Modi had been silent on the issue. Finally after the video surfaced, PM Modi broke his silence. He vowed action against the accused, stating, "Manipur's incident is shameful for India. It has put 140 crore Indians to shame. My heart is full of pain and anger. I want to assure the countrymen that no guilty will be spared. Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi said that the central government is ready to discuss the Manipur issue in Parliament. After the video went viral, the Central government asked Twitter and other social media platforms to take it down. The government is likely to take action against Twitter as the government believes it is the platform's duty to prevent the circulation of videos that could lead to law and order problems. Reacting to the incident, the Supreme Court directed the Centre and the Manipur government to take immediate action and said that the Supreme Court will act if there was no improvement in the situation.
