Manipur police have arrested four persons, including the main culprit, in connection with the horrific incident of women being paraded naked in the state, even as the incident triggered a nation-wide outrage on Thursday. Chief Minister Biren Singh said a thorough investigation is underway and strict action, including possible capital punishment, will follow.
"It's a crime against humanity. We will not spare anyone," he told reporters in Imphal.
Police said the first arrested person - Huirem Heradash Singh - was seen prominently directing the mob at B. Phainom village of Kangpokpi district in the 26-second video that surfaced on Wednesday.
The identity of the other three arrested persons was not immediately known.
The video showing two women from one of the warring communities in the northeastern state being paraded naked by a mob from the other side surfaced on Wednesday, mounting tension in the northeast state already hit by ethnic violence. The main accused in the case was arrested on Thursday morning while several others are still at large.
The incident has sparked off a nation-wide outrage prompting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make a statement.
"Today, when I am standing by this temple of democracy my heart is full of pain and anger," Modi told reporters at Parliament complex amid criticism by opposition parties for not speaking on the ethnic violence in the BJP-ruled state.
"I want to assure the countrymen that no guilty will be spared. Law will act with its full might and firmness... What has happened to these daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court took cognisance of the video and asked the Centre and the Manipur government to take immediate action. A bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said using women as instruments for perpetrating violence is "simply unacceptable in a constitutional democracy".
"I think it is time that the government really steps in and takes action because this is simply unacceptable," the CJI said, adding, "We will give a little time to the government to act, otherwise we will take action if nothing is happening on the ground."
The Centre has asked Twitter and other social media platforms to take down the video of the incident since the matter is being probed.
The National Commission for Women(NCW) has taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and asked the Manipur police chief to take prompt action in the matter.
The incident has mounted tension in the state already hit by ethnic violence over the last two months, with members of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) staging a massive protest.
The northeast state has been witnessing ethnic clashes since May 3 between the majority Meitei community, concentrated in the Imphal valley, and the tribal Kukis, occupying the hills. Over 160 people have been killed in the violence so far.
—With PTI inputs