Two women were paraded naked down a street while being sexually assaulted before they were reportedly raped in a field by a mob, sparking angry protests in India.
Poignant video shows the two naked women being dragged along a road in northeast India’s Manipur state, as young men grope their genitals as the victims try to tear themselves away from their clawing hands.
The attack sparked furious protests in New Delhi today, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the brutal attack has brought “shame” to India.
The guilty will not be spared. What happened to the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,” Modi said in his first remarks on ethnic clashes in the remote state ruled by his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party.
My heart is filled with pain and anger. The incident from Manipur that has emerged is an embarrassment to any civilized nation,” he said, urging key ministers to strengthen law enforcement.
The remote state of Manipur has been in the grip of a near-civil war since May, which has left 130 dead and seen crowds rampage through villages killing people and burning homes.
Poignant video shows the two naked women being dragged along a road in northeast India’s Manipur state, as young men grope their genitals as the victims try to tear themselves away from their clawing hands. Pictured: A video recording of the images showing the crowd of men
Members of the All India Mahila (AIMC) Congress shout slogans during a protest against sexual violence against women and for peace in the ongoing ethnic violence in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, in New Delhi on Thursday
The attack sparked furious protests in New Delhi today (pictured), with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the brutal attack has ‘disgraced India’
The guilty will not be spared. What happened to Manipur’s daughters can never be forgiven,” Modi said today (pictured)
In the latest violence, the two women were paraded down the street after a mob of men ripped off their clothes and began groping their bodies. According to locals, the terrified women were led by the mob to a field where they were gang raped.
A preliminary investigation showed the attack on the two women occurred on May 4, but videos of them being dragged, groped and paraded naked by armed thugs went viral on Wednesday, police said.
The two victims were part of a family that was attacked by a mob that killed its two male members, according to a police complaint of rape and murder by “unknown miscreants.”
State police have made the first arrest in the case, Manipur Prime Minister Biren Singh said on Twitter, without specifying the number of people detained.
“A thorough investigation is currently underway and we will ensure that strict action is taken against all perpetrators, including consideration of the possibility of the death penalty. Let it be known, there is absolutely no place for such heinous acts in our society,” Singh said.
India’s Supreme Court, meanwhile, expressed concern over the attack and asked the government to inform the court of the steps it has taken to arrest the suspect.
This is unacceptable in a constitutional democracy. If the government does nothing, we will,” Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said.
Police officers arrest a member of the youth wing of India’s Congress party during a protest against the deadly ethnic clashes in Manipur on Thursday
Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard on Monday to enforce a curfew in Imphal, the capital of the northeastern Indian state of Manipur.
The shell of a burnt-out house stands after ethnic clashes and riots in Sugnu, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, on Wednesday
The two women are now safe in a refugee camp.
They come from the Kuki-Zo community, according to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, a tribal organization in Manipur.
Communal violence in the state was sparked in May by an affirmative action controversy in which Christian Kukis protested a demand by the predominantly Hindu Meiteis for a special status that would allow them to buy land in the hills populated by Kukis and other tribal groups and a share of government jobs.
The clashes continue despite the presence of the army in Manipur, a state of 3.7 million people tucked away in the mountains on India’s border with Myanmar and now divided into two ethnic zones.
The two warring factions have also formed armed militias and isolated villages continue to be shelled with gunfire. More than 60,000 people have fled to overcrowded refugee camps.
India’s Minister of Development for Women and Children, Smriti Irani, called the attack on the two women “judgmental and downright inhumane.” She said on Thursday that investigations are ongoing and “no effort will be spared to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
However, Mallikarjun Kharge, chairman of India’s main opposition party, accused the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party of “turning democracy and the rule of law into mobocracy.”
Kharge said Modi should speak about Manipur in parliament, a demand made by other opposition parties and human rights activists.
“India will never forgive your silence,” he wrote on Twitter.
Last week, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on Indian authorities to take action to stop the violence in Manipur and protect religious minorities, especially Christians. India’s foreign ministry condemned the resolution, describing it as “interference” in internal affairs.