After Manipur video horror, Meitei woman comes forward with gangrape ordeal

After the horrific ordeal of two tribal women sexually assaulted and paraded naked in Manipur’s Kangpokpi, another woman’s gangrape has come to light in Bishnupur district after she filed a police complaint.

The 37-year-old belonging to the Meitei community from the Churachandpur district alleged she was gang-raped by 4-5 men while she was fleeing after a mob set her house ablaze on May 3. The violence was triggered after a protest march by the state’s tribal communities against the Meiteis’ demand to be granted the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

As per media reports, the woman summoned the strength to report the incident after she saw other women coming forward with their ordeals. A ‘zero FIR’ has been filed at the Bishnupur police station in this connection and charges under sections 376D, 354, 120B, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) have been framed against the miscreants.The woman is currently residing at a relief camp for displaced people.

As per initial information, miscreants ignited fires in the woman’s and her neighbour’s homes around 6:30 pm on May 3rd. In a bid to escape, she carried her niece on her back while clutching her two sons. After stumbling and falling on the road, she faced further abuse from the attackers who pinned her down and subjected her to gangrape.

The woman’s physical and mental health deteriorated substantially after the incident. Despite visiting medical facilities, her inability to express her ordeal left her deeply distressed. The woman feared social stigma and getting ostracised if told anyone about the incident to the extent that she even considered taking her life, the report said. Her visit to the JNIMS Hospital in Imphal proved crucial as she was counselled and treated by the doctors which led her to lodge the complaint.

This incident follows the recent widely shared video of men parading two naked women on a Manipur road, prompting public outrage and arrests. The Manipur Police revealed that an astonishing 6,500 police cases were lodged between May 3 to July 30 amid the ongoing ethnic strife.

Speaking in the Parliament on Wednesday, Home Minister Amit Shah had informed 130 people have been killed in the ethnic violence.