4 arrested for parading women naked in northeastern Indian state

By Shuriah Niazi

NEW DELHI (AA) – At least four people have been arrested in India’s northeastern state of Manipur for abduction and gang rape of two women paraded naked by a mob, police said.

“Three more main accused of the heinous crime of abduction and gangrape under Nongpok Sekmai PS, Thoubal District have been arrested. So total four persons have been arrested till now,” said a statement by Manipur police released late on Thursday.

The session in both houses of Parliament was also disrupted in Delhi on Friday over the incident.

The video showing two women paraded naked by a mob in Manipur went viral on social media and has triggered outrage.

The video which had gone viral shows two women from the state's Kuki tribe paraded naked on the road and pushed into a field by a mob.

The National Commission on Women has asked Twitter India to remove the video showing the disgraceful act of two women being paraded naked.

“This video compromises the victims' identities and is a punishable offense,” said the commission in a tweet.

Meanwhile, the house of the main accused, Huirem Herodas Meitei was on Thursday burnt down by a mob. Footage on television showed a group of people, mostly women, setting the man's house on fire.

Manipur has been witnessing deadly ethnic violence for the last two months.

- 'Police involved'

One of the victims, while talking to Indian Express newspaper said that they had been “left to the mob by the police”.

The report said that two women, one in her 20s and the other in her 40s, can be seen being made to walk naked down a road and towards a field by a mob of men. Some of the men can be seen dragging the two women toward a field and forcibly groping them.

In a police complaint that was filed on May 18, the victims had also alleged that the younger woman was “brutally gang raped in broad daylight.”

However, speaking to the newspaper over the phone, the younger woman alleged: “The police were there with the mob which was attacking our village. The police picked us up from near home, and took us a little away from the village and left us on the road with the mob. We were given to them by police.”

The violence in the state started after a court ruling directed the state government to submit recommendations for the inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe category, which enraged the state's tribal population

There are three main communities living in the state: Meitei, Naga and Kuki.

Meitei are mostly Hindu. There is a greater percentage of Meitei in the state’s population. On the other hand, Nagas and Kukis are mostly Christians.​​​​​​​