From Manipur, a video has surfaced showing two Kuki women being paraded naked by a mob. Numerous young guys can be seen following the men who are dragging the women into the fields as they appear to be in distress.
One of the survivors, who spoke to Scroll, claimed that the attack happened close to her town, B Phainom, in the Kangpokpi area on May 4, a day after fighting broke out between the Meitei and Kuki clans.
Her family and other people fled down a dirt road after hearing reports of Meitei mobs "burning homes" in a nearby village, but a mob tracked them down, she claimed. She claimed that her neighbor and his son were abducted and slain a short distance away. She claimed that the mob then demanded the women "to strip off our clothes" before starting to abuse them.
The woman, who is in her forties, claimed that when we refused, they threatened to kill us if we didn't strip off our clothes. She said that she merely removed "every item of clothing" to "protect herself." The males allegedly continued to slap and assault her throughout. She claimed that because she was some distance away, she was unaware of what was occurring to her 21-year-old neighbor.
The woman claimed that at that point, the men forced her to "lie down" in a paddy field close to the road. "I followed their instructions, and three men surrounded me... In the end, they decided against raping her when one of them suggested it to the other.
She continued by saying that she was "lucky" they did not go as far as to rape her. But, she said, "They grabbed my breasts."
According to a police complaint made by the woman's relatives, one of the women was later gang-raped. According to the police, a zero FIR was filed on May 18 in the Saikul police station of the Kangpokpi district based on the complaint.
A zero FIR allows any police station to accept and register a complaint and then transfer it to the relevant station, whereas first information reports are typically filed in the police station whose jurisdiction the alleged crime is believed to have occurred.
An official at the Saikul police station stated that "unknown miscreants" totaling "800-1,000" have been charged with murder, rape, and other crimes.
According to the lawsuit, the incident happened on May 4, in the late afternoon, one day after the state was rocked by unrest.
In Island Sub-Division Kangpokpi District, Manipur, "some unidentified miscreants...carrying sophisticated weapons like AK Rifles, SLR. INSAS and.303 Rifles, forcedly entered our village," according to the complaint.
The allegation stated that the mob then proceeded to burn and vandalize the residences in the village.
Five villagers were running "towards the forest" to save themselves, according to the complaint, during the specific occurrence.
Two guys and three women made up the group. A 56-year-old man, his 19-year-old son, and his 21-year-old daughter all belonged to the same family. The gathering also included two additional women, one 42 years old and the other 52.
According to the complaint, a crew from the Nongpok Sekmai police station "rescued" them on their way to the forest. However, the lawsuit claims that they were "snatched from the custody of the police team by the violent mob near Toubu" and "blocked on the way by a mob near Nongpok Sekmai."
According to the lawsuit, the 56-year-old was promptly murdered by the mob, and as a result, "all three women were physically forced to remove their clothing and were stripped naked in front of the mob."
The lawsuit claims that the other two women "managed to escape from the spot with the help of some people of the area who were known to them" while the 21-year-old lady was "brutally gang raped in broad daylight."
It further states that the younger brother of the 21-year-old "tried to defend his sister's modesty and life but he was immediately murdered by members of the mob."
The alleged incident's location, Nongpok Sekmai police station, has received the complaint. Kangpokpi police superintendent Manoj Prabhakar M said this was true: "We have registered zero FIR in Saikul [police station] and forwarded them to Nongpok Sekmai [police station]."
Calls and SMS requesting comment on whether the Nongpok Sekmai station's officer in charge had started an investigation into the allegation went unanswered.
