Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 21: Gang-raping and parading two women naked in full public view and molesting them were not the only offence committed by the frenzied mob but the heinous crime was preceded by wanton killing and looting of the tribal village in Manipur which is witnessing violence for the last two and half months.
The viral video of the women being paraded naked that caused the national outrage has brought the incident in the limelight but an FIR filed about the armed attack on the village filed on June 21 give the vivid details of the barbarous acts of the attackers.
An armed mob, nearly a thousand strong, had attacked the village in Kangpokpi district of Manipur and torched, looted houses, killed and raped women wantonly before abducting with two women whose forced naked parade caught on video outraged the entire nation.
The FIR revealed the tale of mayhem which occurred before the abduction and shameful behaviour with tribal women, a video of which has now formed the basis of raids and arrests of people connected with the incident. The FIR 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 (on May 4)… 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. The mob entered the village at around 3 pm and took away cash, furniture, electronic items, foodgrains and cattle heads from the houses, it said.
Shockingly, in the 62 days between a complaint being filed in connection with the gang rape and parading the women naked, which was filed on May 18 till the video went viral on Wednesday, the FIR gathered dust at two police stations, even as the state saw several high-level meetings to discuss the security situation.
Though the state was witnessing group clashes, it hardly justify the fact that it took over a month for the FIR on such a grave crime to be transferred to the relevant police station since the victims had fled their homes and had approached police in another district.
Speaking a day after the video surfaced and led to calls for his resignation, Chief Minister N Biren Singh sought to explain the delay in police action saying, “There were over 6,000 FIRs even as the violence continued. Police were trying to identify the case when the video surfaced. As soon as we got hold of the video, we could identify the culprits and action was taken immediately and we arrested two persons, including the main culprit.”
The same chief minister had claimed on Thursday that his government had taken “suo motu” action in arresting four persons in connection with the gang rape and parading the women naked. Some of the men can be seen in the video dragging the two women and groping them.
The police arrested four people in connection with parading the women naked and sexually assaulting them a day after a video showing their humiliation surfaced on July 19, nearly month after the FIR was filed at Saikul police station in Kangpokpi district. Angry local people attacked the house of one of the four at Pechi Awang in Thoubal district, ransacked it and set it afire on Thursday night, police said. The 32-year-old Heradas was prominently seen in the video dragging one of the two naked women.
More than 160 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% of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40% and reside mostly in the hill districts. The women paraded naked belonged to the Kuki community.
The woman’s husband, who served as a Subedar of the Assam Regiment, spoke about what he called the most painful hour of his life. The mob came at them “like animals”, he said, with weapons and an intent to kill. “They (mob) took the women separately with them, forced them to strip,” he said, fearing more such attacks.
“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 I could not protect my wife and fellow villagers,” he regretted.
The ruling BJP and the opposition, meanwhile, kept debating in Parliament whether the horrific incidents of Manipur should be discussed under Rule 176 or 267. Both houses of Parliament were adjourned for the second consecutive day on Friday as the opposition demanding a full discussion on Manipur under rule 267 created ruckus in both the Houses while the government had so far agreed only for short duration discussion under rule 176 which permit a discussion on any issue for not more than two and half hours and under the rule no formal motion or voting is allowed after the discussion.