It took more than two months for news of the shocking sexual assault to spread, as the internet was shut down in the area.
This increasingly common tactic of restricting the flow of information is part of the Indian government’s response to bloody ethnic clashes in the northeastern state of Manipur, where for several weeks, two communities have essentially been at war over access to government benefits.
So a video of two women being paraded naked and assaulted in Manipur went viral in India on Wednesday, shocking the nation, stoking further tensions and bringing new attention to a conflict that has killed more than 130 people and displaced more than 35,000.
This led Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make his first public comments on the situation in the state. This incident in Manipur has come to light and it is a shameful incident for any civil society. He said On Thursday. He said it was a “disgrace” to the “entire nation”.
He did not directly address the overall violence in Manipur or offer any solutions to defuse the tension.
In a statement On Tuesday, the state police said it was investigating a “case of abduction, gang-rape and murder” and strengthened curfews in half a dozen divisions of Manipur.
According to a police complaint filed by the victim’s family members, the episode unfolded on May 4 when clashes broke out in the state in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district. The footage shows two women being dragged naked by a group of youths. A man is seen slapping a woman while he and another man sexually assault her. The women were crying, trying to cover themselves, as some men took them to the field, pulling the pieces.
They were at the mercy of a violent mob, said Lian Mung, an activist helping victims. “Our team met him in May,” Mr Mung said in a telephone interview from Manipur. “They told us, ‘We were forced to be naked and march, otherwise they would have killed us.
One of the victims told local news media that pleas for help from the police went unanswered.
The assailants later gang-raped one of the women and killed her brother when she tried to rescue them, according to allegations made in a police complaint, a copy of which was seen by The New York Times.
According to the complaint, the mob consists of hundreds of powerful people who have a narrow majority in Manipur. The victims belonged to a hill tribe community known as Kukis.
Tensions between the two groups boiled over in early May, when a student-led group, mostly Kukis, marched in protest of a court ruling in favor of the Maitais, who had won special status to buy land in the hills and guarantee the distribution of government jobs. Armed clashes ensued and police weapons were attacked. More than 50 people died in two days.
The state of 3.7 million people is now essentially divided into ethnic zones. The Kukis have demanded that the Chief Minister of the state should step down so that peace talks can continue. Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, Meti leader, is a member of Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
Some in the international community have expressed concern about the violence in Manipur.
After Mr. Modi landed on an official visit to France this month, the European Parliament passed a strongly worded resolution calling the violence the result of “divisive policies that promote the Hindu majority.” Mr. Modi’s government called that statement an unacceptable interference in India’s internal affairs.
