Imphal: As the chorus of protests against the sexual assault of two women in Manipur grew louder, the four arrested men were remanded in 11-day police custody on Friday while the house of another suspect was set on fire by angry locals in the second such incident in connection with the case.
Proceedings in both the Houses of Parliament were paralysed for the second consecutive day over the issue of the ethnic violence in Manipur even as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in the Lok Sabha the government was ready for a discussion on the matter. Opposition members demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a statement followed by a debate.
As the Manipur police launched a massive manhunt to nab all the culprits, an FIR filed in the sexual assault case on June 21 detailed how an armed mob, nearly a thousand strong, had attacked a village in Kangpokpi district and allegedly torched, looted houses, killed and raped wantonly before abducting the two tribal women.
A 26-second video that surfaced on Wednesday and went viral showed the two women stripped naked, groped by a violent mob and taken towards a paddy field on May 4, a day after violence erupted in the northeastern state, sparking a nationwide outrage.
As the opposition parties escalated their attack on the Centre over the Manipur issue, the Congress demanded that President Droupadi Murmu exercise her powers to dismiss the state government.
The husband of one of two women is a Kargil war veteran, who rued that though he protected the country but could not save his wife from being humiliated. He had served the Indian Army as a Subedar of the Assam Regiment.
“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 am dejected that after my retirement, I could not protect my home, my wife and fellow villagers… I am sad, depressed,” he told a Hindi news channel.
Police said the four accused in the sexual assault case, who were arrested, were remanded in police custody till July 31 by a court in Thoubal district.
It may be recalled that the complaint in connection with the case was lodged around a month ago – June 21 – at Saikul police station in Kangpokpi district.
The house of another suspect, who is yet to be arrested, was vandalised and torched by angry locals on Friday afternoon, police said.
According to police, the suspect’s house was located at Wangjing in Thoubal district.
“The suspect is yet to be arrested. He possibly fled home after coming to know that police were looking for him,” an official said.
The house of the key accused in the case was torched on Thursday, hours after he was arrested by police. According to police, he was seen in the video prominently directing the mob at B. Phainom village of Kangpokpi district.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said people of the state consider “women as their mother” but the miscreants who disrobed the two tribal women have “tarnished the state’s reputation.” The chief minister said protests were launched across the state to condemn the incident.
“People of Manipur consider women their mother, but some miscreants have done this and tarnished our reputation. We have launched protests to condemn the incident across the state, both in valley areas and the hills.” Singh said people are demanding that the culprits get the strictest punishment.
The chief minister had said on Thursday that he will ensure strict action is taken against all the perpetrators, including considering the possibility of capital punishment.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that the prime minister make an elaborate statement in Parliament on the Manipur situation, saying he could have dismissed the state chief minister instead of making “false equivalence” with Congress- governed states if he was angry over the matter.
“If the country now has any hope it is from President Droupadi Murmu ji. We want to urge you to use your special powers and dismiss the government in Manipur,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera told reporters.
PTI