Video of tribal women paraded naked in Manipur shocks India

A video of two tribal women being paraded naked and subjected to blatant acts of sexual assault by a mob of men in the violence-hit northeastern state of Manipur has triggered outrage in India.

The widely shared footage led prime minister Narendra Modi to address the country in some of his first remarks since the conflict broke out in Manipur, saying the incident “shamed India” and that the guilty won’t be spared.

“I assure the nation, the law will take its course with all its might. What happened with the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,” he said ahead of the opening of the monsoon session of the Indian parliament.

The incident reportedly took place on 4 May in the early stages of the violence that erupted between the Meitei and Kuki communities after some Kukis protested against calls by the mostly Hindu Meitei community to be granted protected tribal status.

Since then the state has been effectively torn in two, with more than 140 people killed and over 40,000 displaced as both communities engaged in attacks on each other’s residences and vehicles, burning down churches and temples.

The incident took place in Kangpokpi district, a day after clashes erupted between the communities, one of the survivors told news outlet Scroll.

A police complaint was filed by relatives of the women, who alleged that one of the women was subsequently gang-raped. The police reportedly registered a formal complaint but have taken no further action so far.

The video of the sexual assault went viral on social media on Wednesday, prompting state law enforcement to take action against several suspects more than two months after the incident.

Manipur police said they have opened a case of gang rape and arrested a suspect, identified as 32-year-old Heradas from the Thoubal district.

In the police complaint filed in May, the survivor alleged that five Kukis, including two men, fled to a forest for shelter after their village in Kangpokpi district was attacked.

They were rescued by Thoubal police and were being taken to the police station when a mob seized them from police custody.

The survivor told the Indian Express that another woman in her fifties was also allegedly stripped, and the father and brother of a 21-year-old woman were killed by the men.

“The police were there with the mob which was attacking our village,” the survivor told the Indian daily.

“The police picked us up from near home, and took us a little away from the village and left us on the road with the mob. We were given to them by police.”

The woman was “brutally gang-raped in broad daylight”, the police complaint read. The other two women “managed to escape from the spot with the help of some people of the area who were known to them”.

The woman’s “younger brother tried to defend his sister’s modesty and life but he was murdered by members of the mob on the spot”, it added.

“After all the men were killed, and the mob did what they did, we were just left there and we escaped,” the woman said.

India’s Supreme Court expressed “deep concern” over the incident and called on the federal government to take immediate action against the suspects.

Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, the chief justice of India, said if the government failed to take action then the court will step in. “What is portrayed in the media and visuals appeared shows gross constitutional violation,” the chief justice said.

The two women seen in the video from the Kuki-Zo community are now safe in a refugee camp, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, a tribal organisation in Manipur, said in a statement.

The video caused an uproar on the first day of the monsoon session of the parliament, with opposition parties demanding a discussion on the persisting violence.

Mallikarjun Kharge, president of India’s main opposition Congress party, accused the ruling Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of “turning democracy and the rule of law into mobocracy”.

Mr Kharge said the prime minister should speak about Manipur in parliament. “India will never forgive your silence,” he tweeted.

Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh is facing mounting calls for his resignation over his government’s inability to contain the crisis.

“A thorough investigation is currently under way and we will ensure strict action is taken against all the perpetrators, including considering the possibility of capital punishment. Let it be known, there is absolutely no place for such heinous acts in our society,” he tweeted.

The European parliament last week adopted a resolution that called on Indian authorities to take action to stop the violence and protect religious minorities, especially Christians.

The resolution was condemned by India’s foreign ministry as an “interference” in its internal affairs.