Manipur Police on Saturday evening made yet another arrest in connection with the horrific incident of two women being paraded naked in the violence-hit state, taking the total number of arrests in the case to six. A video of the incident, which reportedly took place on May 4, had surfaced on social media on July 19, sparking off a nation-wide outrage.
Police said the arrested person is a juvenile. Earlier in the day, police had arrested a 19-year-old man in the case even as security has been tightened across the state to prevent any flare-ups in the wake of the viral video.
The 26-second 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 and three others were arrested on Thursday while several otheraccused are still at large. These four people were remanded to 11-day police custody on Friday.
According to reports, one of the women seen in the video is the wife of an ex-Army man, who served as a subedar in the Assam Regiment and had even fought in the Kargil War. A complaint in connection with the video was lodged around a month ago June 21 at the Saikul police station in Kangpokpi district.
Meanwhile, it emerged that two other women were brutally gangraped and killed by a mob on May 4, but the police did not add any section pertaining to sexual assault on the duo and rather charges of robbery, mischief and tresspass have only been registered
A tribal woman had lodged a complaint at Saikul police station, stating that her 21-year-old daughter and her 24-year-old friend were allegedly raped by a mob at their rented house near Konung Mamang before brutally murdering them. The woman said both the victims were working as caretaker at a car washing station and their bodies are yet to be recovered.
Police has registered a case under various sections of Indian Penal Code including 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 398(attempt to commit robbery), 436 (use of fire or explosives to destroy house) and 448 (house-tresspass) besides a section of Arms Act.
Police officials told PTI that since it was a zero FIR, other sections can be added once investigation of the case is taken up by the Porompat police station. No arrest has been made in connection with this case so far.
More than 160 people have lost their lives, and several have been injured since ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3, when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
With PTI inputs