Imphal: Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh condemned the incident of two women being paraded naked and sexually assaulted by a mob during the ethnic violence in the state as a “crime against humanity” and assured of exemplary punishment to the culprits.
Addressing the media at the Secretariat in Imphal Thursday evening, Biren said the government will leave no stone unturned to catch the culprits and give them the harshest punishment.
A video of the incident from Kangpokpi district in May had surfaced Thursday. The police have reportedly arrested one of the main accused in the case.
Singh said a manhunt for the other culprits is under way, but declined to elaborate much on the arrest made so far.
He added that “the government will never tolerate heinous crimes against women, children and the elderly”, and reiterated that the culprits will be handed exemplary punishment in the present case.
“Even though it is for the court to decide the kind of punishment, the government and its agencies along with the people of Manipur will make efforts so that they (culprits) are given the harshest punishment, even to the extent of capital punishment,” Singh said.
The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) also condemned the incident, terming it a “barbaric and uncivilised act of violence”. “The entire Meitei society is in deep shame and anguish over the video clip which is being shown to various national TV news channel across the nation,” it said.
The COCOMI added: “It is very unfortunate to learn that certain national media houses are using the viral videos from 75 days ago which do not help in resolving the crisis in any way but rather (add fuel) to the fire.”
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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