A viral video from the Manipur, showing dozens of men parading and assaulting two women who have been stripped naked, has triggered outrage in India.
In the 26-second video, a group of men, some of whom look to be as young as 15, are shown groping and assaulting women from the Kuki-Zo tribe before leading them to an empty field. At least one of the women, aged 21, was gang raped, according to the first information report (FIR) filed by the survivors. The police complaint says the other woman was 42.
The incident took place on May 4, a day following violent riots between the primarily Hindu Meitei and primarily Christian Kuki-Zo tribes in the isolated northeastern state of India, which is ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Meiteis, who constitute more than half of Manipur’s 3.5 million population, mainly live in capital Imphal and the prosperous valley around it, while the Kuki-Zo and Naga tribes live in the surrounding hill districts.
The two survivors' family members told the media that they reported the event which took place on May 4 to the police on May 18. However, it took them almost a month to transfer the file to the police station where the crime was committed. Even after that, according to the locals, nothing was done. They claimed that the government didn't take any action until the viral video.
Speaking to the media, the family of the sexual assault survivors said police officers were with a Meitei mob when it attacked their B Phainom village in Kangpokpi district, about 40 km from the state capital, Imphal.
“My husband was killed by the mob. We pleaded with the police to rescue us,” said the mother of the 21-year-old survivor. She said the police initially escorted her along with her daughter and 19-year-old son, but on seeing the mob, dropped them back to where the body of her husband lay on the ground.
It was there that her 21-year-old daughter was surrounded by the mob and sexually assaulted. When her brother tried to stop them, he was also killed, said their mother.