New Delhi: “Those who want to rape these girls, rape them”, “kill them” — this is what a mob of 900-1,000 people armed with sophisticated weapons, including AK-47s, shouted as they stripped two women naked, gangraped them, and brutally murdered their male relatives before their eyes in Manipur on 4 May last year, according to a chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in October.
The CBI’s chargesheet details the gruesome ordeal of the women, who repeatedly begged the crowd to spare them and sought help from the police, only to be left to the mob. The police instead drove them in their Gypsy towards the violent mob and left the victims at its mercy.
Despite the women seeking their help, the police refused assistance and abandoned the area, leaving them at the mercy of the violent mob. They escaped and spent a night in a jungle before they got any help, the investigation has found.
According to the CBI’s chargesheet, a copy of which is with ThePrint, the investigation established that the accused, who were part of ethnic clashes between the Meiteis and Kukis, conspired with a large group of unidentified miscreants from the “Meitei community” to “execute a series of pre-planned criminal acts including violence, arson, sexual assault and murder with a clear intent”.
“Their deliberate actions, which specifically targeted victims from the tribal community, included threats, violence and various unlawful acts aimed at promoting enmity between different groups,” the chargesheet says.
The CBI has named Huirem Herodash Meitei, Arun Khundongbam, Ningombam Tomba Singh, Yumlembam Jiban Singh, Pukhrihongbam Suranjoy Metiei and a juvenile. Another accused, Loya, is absconding.
A video showing the women being paraded naked had gone viral in July last year, triggering widespread outrage.
Manipur has been plunged in conflict since 3 May, 2023, when simmering ethnic tensions erupted into full-fledged violence between the dominant Meitei and tribal Kuki communities. The ongoing violence has claimed over 200 lives and displaced over 50,000 people, police data shows.
‘Police left the victims to the mob’
It was around 3 pm on 4 May when a crowd from the Meitei community forcefully entered B Phainom village in Kangpokpi district carrying sophisticated arms, the chargesheet says. They allegedly vandalised houses and burnt buildings, including Nongpok Centre Church, despite the police’s efforts to disperse them.
According to the CBI, as the mob wreaked havoc, nine people from the village went to hide in the Haokhongching forest while others also fled to safer places. This group consisted of four men — one of whom is the complainant in the case — three women and the two granddaughters of one of the women. The two women who were paraded naked and sexually assaulted are referred to as Victim 1 and Victim 2 in the chargesheet, while the third, who was able to escape, is referred to as Victim 3.
The mob, however, identified a family and surrounded them.
According to the chargesheet, Victim 1 was unwell and was being carried by two of the men towards Chakhama village. They were cornered by a Meitei mob from Heirok village, who started beating them.
As some people in the mob told the two men to approach a police Gypsy that was parked at a distance, they rushed towards it with Victim 1 and Victim 2, the CBI says. However, the policemen did not help them escape and told them that there was “no key” in the vehicle.
“Victim 1 and Victim 2 managed to get inside the police Gypsy… they kept begging to save their family members but the police did not help..as the mob kept shouting ‘give us back’, asking police to hand over the victims,” the chargesheet says.
According to the CBI’s chargesheet, the driver of the Gypsy suddenly drove and stopped the vehicle near the violent mob, numbering over 1,000. One of the men who were with the victims requested the driver to start but he said, “You .. keep silent.”
Meanwhile, the mob shook the police Gypsy and pulled out the men and women by their shirts and hair from outside and the policemen left the spot, leaving the victims alone with the mob, the chargesheet says.
‘The assault, relatives killed’
As the mob pulled the two women from the police Gypsy, their clothes were torn and they were assaulted, the CBI says.
Some from the mob allegedly took the victims’ purses, money, and mobile phones.
According to the chargesheet, the mob, which was led by Huirem Herodash Metei and others, paraded the two women naked on the roadside of Thoubal village and took them to the paddy fields nearby, where they were sexually assaulted. The chargesheet goes on to describe the assault in graphic detail.
Men in the mob forced Victim 1 to lie down in the paddy field, then allegedly strangled her neck, sat on her naked body and touched her private parts, the chargesheet says.
“Victim 1 shouted and screamed out of fear. One person among [the] mob said, “At Churachandpur, tribal people raped and killed mother-like and daughter-like persons. That is why we are doing this to you..” the chargesheet says.
Meanwhile, Victim 2 saw her male relative being hit by a log of wood.
“Victim 2 saw [the] male being hit with a big log of wood so hard that he instantly fell down on top of his father’s dead body and succumbed. The mob then told her to take off her clothes,” the chargesheet says.
According to CBI, Victim 2 was also assaulted in the same way.
After assaulting the two women, the mob let them leave and on their way out, the women saw the bodies of their family members — the two men who were trying to protect them — lying on top of each other inside a drain, the chargesheet says.
They stopped for some time and cried, and “the mob came back to them but some elders stopped them and the victims fled”, the chargesheet says.
According to the CBI, Victim 3 was witnessing the assault. The mob tried to tear her clothes but since she was holding her granddaughter close to her, she managed to resist the attempt.
“Seeing the other two victims being paraded naked, the mob that surrounded Victim 3 ran towards that side (towards Victim 1 and Victim 2) and Victim 3 seized the opportunity to run towards village Kakmayai with her granddaughter in [her] arms,” the chargesheet says.
After their escape, the victims took refuge in Irong hills jungle due to fear of a possible attack. According to the chargesheet, they spent the night there and on the following day they returned to Iron Ache, where Victim 1 medicated herself.
“They continued their journey, moving from Sanpun village to Lairem Pungka, a Tangkhul village, accompanied by family members and the village chief’s mother,” the chargesheet says.
It was on 20 July that the video of the assault went viral and key accused Huirem Herodash Meitei and Pechi Awang Leikai were identified. While Arun Khundongbam, Ningombam Tomba Singh and Yumlembam Jiban Singh were arrested on 20 July, Pukhrihongbam Suranjoy Metiei was arrested on 22 July and the juvenile was apprehended on 21 July.
The investigation has found that accused Yumlembam Jiban Singh had recorded the video of Victim 1 and Victim 2 and shared it with a juvenile, who shared it with Pukhrihongbam Suronjoy Meitei, who then shared it with others.
(Edited by Rohan Manoj)
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