One of the victims who were allegedly being paraded naked and sexually assaulted in Manipur claimed that the police were present with the mob during the village attack and that the police handed them over to the violent crowd.
As per media reports, after the mob committed heinous acts against the women and others in their village, they were abandoned by the police, leaving them to escape on their own.
A shocking incident of violence against two women from the Kuki-Zomi community in Manipur came to light, as a distressing video of their ordeal surfaced.
In the video, which has sparked nationwide outrage, the women are seen being paraded naked and sexually assaulted by a mob of men. The victims, aged in their 20s and 40s, were forcibly dragged down a road and into a field, where they were subjected to egregious acts of groping.
According to a police complaint filed on May 18, the younger woman had also suffered the horrifying ordeal of being brutally gang-raped in broad daylight during the attack. The victims revealed that after their village in Kangpokpi district was assaulted, they sought refuge in a nearby forest.
Thoubal police later came to their rescue and were escorting them to the police station, but their journey was halted by the mob, who seized the women from police custody about two kilometers away from the station.
Earlier, the Supreme Court of India on Thursday took suo moto cognizance of the incident adding that if the government does not act, the apex court will.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud said, “Simply unacceptable. Using women as an instrument in an area of communal strife. Grossest of constitutional abuse. We are deeply disturbed by the videos which have emerged. If the government does not act, we will.”
However, the top court then sought the response of the state and central government on the steps taken to book the perpetrators.
