A team from the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Tuesday reached north-eastern India's state of Manipur to meet sexual assault survivors from both the majority Meitei and minority Kuki communities.
According to reports, some activists informed the NCW about a horrific 4 May incident (footage of which went viral recently), along with other incidents of rape, kidnapping, lynching, immolation, and even murders in the state.
Two activists, who visited the state, in a letter addressed to the women panel chief (Rekha Sharma) informed her on 12 June that there was “numbing silence” and underreporting of sexual and gender-based violence.
They also underlined how Kuki-Zomi women unequivocally and disproportionately experienced rape, sexual assault, and murder by the “Meitei vigilante mob”.
The activists, in their letter, claimed that the state police remained spectators while the mob lynched the women and set their homes on fire.
They urged the NCW chief to act in six incidents of violence against women of the Kuki tribe, while listing the incidents on the basis of testimonies of victims and survivors of physical and sexual assault, and rape, as were shared with them.
Notably, the NCW chief claimed that the women's panel had reached out to Manipur authorities, but had not heard back from them.
Horrific Incident That Sparked Outrage
A video of two women being paraded naked and sexually assaulted by a mob of men went viral earlier this month. However, as per media reports, the video is dated 4 May, a day after violence broke out in Manipur, when clashes erupted between the two tribal communities.
Seven accused have been arrested in connection with the case. Four people were arrested on 20 July, a day after the video went viral while, with two more arrested on 22 July. The seventh accused was arrested on Monday, 24 July.
Over 160 people have been killed and numerous more have been injured in the violence.