New Delhi: In the violent northeastern state of Manipur in India, thousands of people, mostly women, staged a massive sit-in on Saturday to demand the immediate arrest of anyone involved in the harrowing attack on two women in May who were paraded around naked and molested by a mob in an attack that was captured on camera.
The nearly 15,000 protesters demanded the resignation of Biren Singh, the top elected official in the state where more than 130 people have died since violence between two dominant ethnic groups erupted in early May. The leaders of religious and women's groups spoke to the crowd. The demonstration took place in Churachandpur, a town 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of the state capital of Imphal.
A near-civil war broke out in Manipur as a result of Christian Kukis' protests against the predominantly Hindu Meiteis' demand for special status, which would have allowed them to purchase land in the hills where Kukis and other tribal groups resided as well as a guaranteed share of government jobs.
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Despite the government largely blocking the Internet and preventing journalists from entering the remote state, a video depicting the women being assaulted sparked widespread outrage and has been widely shared on social media. In the video, dozens of young men can be seen groping the two naked women's genitalia as they drag them to a field.
According to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum, a tribal group in Manipur, the women are from the Kuki-Zo community. One of them claimed to The Associated Press that the attackers were members of a Meitei mob that had previously set their village on fire.
"They made us take off our clothes and threatened to kill us if we didn't comply. Then they made us walk without clothes. They mistreated us. They touched us all over, including our genitalia and breasts, she said over the phone from Manipur.
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The woman claimed that after that, the pair was led into a field and both were sexually assaulted. The two women are currently safe in a camp for refugees.
According to the police, the assault took place on May 4, one day after the fighting between the Kukis and Meiteis began. Police reported that on May 18 the mob attacked the two women's family and killed its two male members. According to the complaint, rape and murder were committed by "unknown miscreants."
The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, broke his more than two months of public silence regarding the ethnic clashes in Manipur on Thursday and declared that the attack on the women was intolerable. This was prompted by the appearance and widespread sharing of the video.
On Saturday, the Manipur state government revealed a fifth attack-related arrest. The state's director-general of police, Rajiv Singh, stated that officers were conducting raids to apprehend additional suspects.
Despite the army's presence in Manipur, a 3.2 million-person state nestled in the mountains on India's border with Myanmar that is now split into two ethnic zones, the deadly clashes have continued. Over 60,000 people have run away and entered crowded relief camps.
Similar demands were made in a protest by nearly 400 men and women in the Indian capital. They were carrying signs that read, "We demand action against the perpetrators" and "Resign, Biren Singh."
In Churachandpur, a Kuki tribe stronghold in the state of Manipur, the protesters gathered at a "Wall of Remembrance" location where they kept mock coffins of members of their minority community who had been killed in the violence.
Ngaineikim, the head of the Kuki Women's Organization for Human Rights, charged Singh, who is a member of the Meiti community, with planning crimes against humanity before showing compassion for the victims.
However, on Thursday, Singh stated that an investigation was ongoing to ensure that "strict action is taken against all the perpetrators, including considering the possibility of capital punishment." Singh did not immediately respond to the calls for resignation. Let it be known that such heinous acts have no place in our society.