Shocking video of sexual assault emerges amid ethnic unrest in India’s Manipur state.
As indignation and horror grew over the attack, India’s Supreme Court asked the federal and state governments on Thursday to take “immediate steps… to hold perpetrators accountable” and “ensure such incidents do not occur again.”
“Using women as weapons to commit violence is simply unacceptable in a constitutional democracy,” the court stated.
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Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh called the act a “crime against humanity” on Thursday.
“Speaking to reporters in the state capital of Imphal, Singh said the Manipur state government, led by Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, would not tolerate crimes against “women and our sisters,” and that the perpetrators would face the harshest punishment.”
Singh, a BJP member, has been chastised for failing to calm continuing ethnic violence in Manipur.
“A video that went viral today shows a large Meitei mob parading two Kuki-Zo tribal women naked towards a paddy field to be gang-raped,” the ITLF said in a statement on Wednesday.
“In recent months, Manipur has been plagued by violence.”
Clashes erupted in Imphal, the state capital, on May 3 as hundreds of students, largely from the Kuki tribe, marched against the Meitei ethnic minority, which has petitioned for special tribal recognition.
According to the ITLF, the event on May 4 happened after the women’s settlement was burned down and two males were beaten to death. The main opposition Congress party in India has been a harsh critic of Modi’s handling of the matter, with the party’s president Mallikarjun Kharge tweeting Thursday, before the start of Parliament, “Humanity has died in Manipur.”
“India will never forgive your silence,” he tweeted, tagging Modi.
“Shortly after, N. Biren Singh, the state’s chief minister, tweeted that an arrest had been made.”
“Manipur police subsequently announced that it had made three further arrests of those accused of “the terrible act of kidnapping and gang rape.”
“The National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) issued notices to the state’s Chief Secretary and Director General of Police on Thursday, demanding a detailed report on the case within four weeks.”
“The Indian government has issued an order to Twitter and other social media platforms, instructing them not to share the viral video,” a source familiar with the situation told CNN on Thursday, adding that it is “imperative for social media platforms to adhere to Indian laws as the matter is currently under investigation.”
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