NHRC issues notice to Manipur CS, DGP over ghastly gang rape incident

Amidst tension in Manipur, NHRC sought detailed report from DGP; Congress, TMC, CPI(M) hits out at the centre over alleged inaction

| Updated: 21 July, 2023 6:21 pm IST
Two tribal women were paraded naked & assaulted by a thousand-strong mob in Kangpokpi district on May 18.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/KOLKATA: As the uproar and the fireworks in the parliament over the gang rape and the video that surfaced from Manipur continue unabated, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notice to the chief secretary and the Director General of Police, Manipur, calling for a detailed report in the matter within four weeks.

In the meantime, opposition leaders continued to question the central government and demanded an immediate intervention in the matter so that peace and harmony could be restored in the hill state.

Reacting to the ghastly incident, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken cognizance of complaints seeking its urgent intervention into the incident of a mob taking away five members of a tribal family from police custody in B Phainom village of Kangpokpi district in Manipur on May 4, 2023.

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Allegedly, the mob paraded the two women naked, brutally gang-raped one of them, and murdered two male members of the family, who tried to protect the women.

The Commission has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, Manipur, calling for a detailed report in the matter within 4 weeks. It should include the status of the investigation of the FIRs registered with regard to the incidents, the health status of the victim women and other injured persons, as well as any compensation granted to the aggrieved persons or their families.

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The Commission would also like to know about the steps taken and proposed to be taken to safeguard the human rights of citizens, especially women and vulnerable sections of society, from such barbaric incidents.

With the parliamentary session just beginning, the main opposition parties have demanded an explanation in the floor debate from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the ongoing violence and the actions to be taken to bring the situation under control.

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While the TMC and the Congress demanded an answer from the Prime Minister on the floor of the house. Meanwhile, women leaders of the left front in Kerala have expressed shock over the video of two women being paraded naked and have demanded the state and central governments take immediate steps to maintain normalcy in the state.

“PM Narendra Modi, please come to Parliament and speak to both Houses. Enough of Mann ki Baat. It’s time for Manipur ki Baat. Or will you stay away, PM, and disrupt the full Monsoon session?” said TMC RS MP Derek O’Brien to The New Indian.

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The Congress has criticised the stoic silence of the BJP central leadership over the matter and has demanded an answer from PM Modi on the Manipur violence.

“Today all the parties demanded the Prime Minister’s answer to the burning Manipur issue. The governor has accepted (in an interview) that there are 70 thousand people in camps and that there’s large-scale violence unleashed in Manipur. Opposition parties demand the PM come to the houses and make a statement, but the ruling party, the BJP, seems not to accept it,” said Lok Sabha member and Congress leader Manickam Tagore.

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In Kerala, various left-wing women’s groups have been holding protests in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode, where writers and artists joined. CPI(M) women leaders who spoke to The New Indian stated that the Manipur violence has escalated due to the indifferent policies of the BJP government in the state and the centre.

“The government, instead of trying to solve the issue by holding peaceful talks between the two communities, allowed the situation to escalate. This should have never happened. We are demanding that the state and the central forces act in a sensitive manner and find an immediate solution to the matter,” said senior CPI(M) leader KK Shailaja to The New Indian.

Chintha Jerome, former chairman of the State Youth Commission and a firebrand leader of the SFI, stated that the incidents unfolding in Manipur were extremely shocking and an insult to the entire nation.

“The brutal torture against women in Manipur cannot be expressed in words and this should not have happened in any society. We demand a statement from the Prime Minister on the matter,” Jerome told The New Indian.

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