Of the four accused in the Manipur sexual assault case, two friends were having a drink before they joined the mob, the 18-year old shared the horrific video with his cousin, and the other accused received a call from his wife while he was committing the crime. The Thoubal court order dated July 31 detailed the role of each accused, as alleged by the prosecution in the gang rape and murder of two Kuki women that shook the nation last month. The court was hearing a plea by the police seeking judicial custody of the accused.
Tension had soared in Manipur, tormented by unabated ethnic violence, after a May 4 video surfaced recently that showed two women from one of the warring communities being paraded naked by a mob from the other side.
How the May 4 incident unfolded
The Thoubal court order dated July 31 states that around 3 pm on May 4, some “unknown miscreants suspected to be members of Meitei youth organisations Meitei Leepun, Kangleipak Kanba Lup, Arambai Tenggol, World Meitei Council and Schedule Tribe Demand Committee, numbering about 900-1,000” forcefully entered a Kuki village, armed with “sophisticated weapons like AK rifles, SLR, INSAS and .303 rifles,” and vandalised homes.
The three women victims fled towards a forest, fearing that they would be killed. They were rescued by the Nongpok Sekmai police team, but were “blocked by the mob” and “snatched from police custody," the order states, according to a report by The Indian Express.
As per the public prosecution's submissions, one of the accused, Huirem, was drinking liquor at the local bazaar with a friend when he saw a mob head inside Nongpok Sekmai police station to snatch the women from custody. He then saw some persons in the mob bring two of the women victims “from some other place”. "The accused joined the mob in tearing the clothes off the two women,” the order states, adding that he then groped the woman.
The court order further says that another accused, Jiban, on May 4 called his friends and local villagers for a meeting to discuss the violence that first erupted in the state on May 3. He reportedly saw “crowds gathering around four persons (two Kuki men and two Kuki women),” the order states.
“He cheered with others and the mob started to parade them naked along the road. He took out his mobile smartphone and started to capture the video of the naked parading of tribal women from his mobile phone. During this naked parade, many among the mob groped the women… After some days, Jiban shared the aforementioned video, which he recorded from his phone, with his cousin (who has also been arrested),” the order states.
Tensions continue to boil over the horrific sexual case in Manipur and other crimes against women in the violence-hit state. The opposition parties will be meeting President Droupadi Murmu today to seek her intervention in the issue.
