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At 10.44am, minutes after the Supreme Court said “if the government does not act, we will”, CM N Biren Singh took to Twitter to report that “suo motu” action after the video surfaced had led to the first arrest in the case. The arrested man, identified as 32-year-old Huirem Herodas Singh of Pechi Awang Lekai in Thoubal district, is prominently seen in the video that emerged on Wednesday.
It was unclear what the CM meant by “suo motu cognisance of the incident” since the zero FIR had been filed at Saikul police station in Kangpokpi district at 8.30am on May 18.
While announcing the second arrest at a presser late Thursday, he sought to explain the over two-month delay in police action as being caused by “1,000 cases being filed regarding different incidents”.
“It takes time to identify each case. That is why the moment we got this video, investigation and police action started immediately,” he said. “A thorough investigation is underway, and we will ensure strict action is taken against all the perpetrators, including the possibility of capital punishment.”
The May 18 FIR, re-registered on June 21 at Nongpok Sekmai police station for jurisdictional reasons, mentions that the armed mob also killed the 56-year-old father and 19-year-old brother of the young woman who was disrobed, paraded and then allegedly gang-raped.
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The elder of the two women paraded naked — the FIR mentions that a third woman was forced to strip, but she isn’t seen in the video — and her retired Army subedar husband, a Kargil veteran, told TOI from a relief camp in Churachandpur that they lost everything they had in the mayhem — home, other material possessions, and their dignity.
“We two women were made to strip at gunpoint in front of thousands of men in the mob in the open. They threatened to kill us if we did not do so. They made us dance, pushed and shoved, and paraded us naked,” the 42-year-old mother said.
Her husband, 65, said his wife slipped into depression. “With our children to care for, she is struggling to come back to normal…I have seen war, have fought on the frontline in Kargil. And now I find my own place more dangerous than the battlefield.”
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For two days, May 3 and 4, the thousand-strong mob raided nine villages in the area, burning down houses and a church, and killing domestic animals, the retired soldier said.
“They came to our village (B Phainom) on May 4, and as they started burning down houses, all villagers ran hither and thither to save their lives. My wife got separated from me, and she and four other villagers hid behind a tree in the forest. Some of the attackers who were chasing our goats, pigs and chickens also entered the forest and found my wife along with the others hiding there,” he recounted.
He said the captured group included a woman with her baby, and three members of a family (father, son and daughter). When they were being brought out in the open, they saw a police vehicle waiting and hopped in, but the mob overpowered the two policemen and dragged out my wife and the other four.”
The husband and other villagers that the raiders could get hold of were also brought to the village dirt road. “I could see them taking my wife and the other four to a distance. The three women were forced to strip. The woman carrying a baby in her arms was later set free by some people in the mob who seemed to know her. The mob was trying to molest the younger woman, and when her father and brother tried to protect her, they were killed,” the ex-soldier said.
The FIR filed on the basis of his complaint states that the younger woman, 21, was later “brutally gang-raped in broad daylight”. Police sources said gang-rape hadn’t been established yet as the girl was missing.
“The ordeal continued for two to three hours, and when the mob dispersed, all villagers fled the scene. We walked across the hills and, at night, I was joined by my wife in a Naga village. The younger girl was taken away by her boyfriend. The next morning, we started trekking again with some villagers in our group, which also had a few pregnant women. The rest went in different directions,” he said.
The soldier, his wife, and others in the group kept walking across the hills to reach Saikul on May 18. “We didn’t take the route through the valley even though it would have got us to Saikul in a couple of hours because it was too risky. There, we got in touch with Saikul police, who escorted us to the police station so that we could lodge our FIR,” he said.
The retired subedar and his wife don’t know what’s next. “They burned down the home that I built with my life’s savings and my truck. As of now, this relief camp is the only place that we can call home.”
Governor Anusiya Uikey questioned the police’s silence until the video went viral on Wednesday.
“I can’t believe that this type of incident happened in my state. I want to know why no action was taken on the complaint of the women ? I called the DGP of my state today. Never in future should any person have the courage to commit these types of crimes against women,” she told ANI in a video interview.
The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) termed the crime “barbaric” and “inhuman”.
“COCOMI always tried to avoid any incidents that could affect the modesty and dignity of the victims and their families and relatives and friends,” it said.
The FIR states that the mob had people suspected to be members of six organisations, all of which have been identified.
Watch Disturbing viral video: Two Manipur women paraded naked
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