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Manipur video: CBI registers FIR after taking over probe in sexual assault case
The government on Thursday also filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court and said that it has “zero-tolerance towards any crimes against women”.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the probe on Friday night of the May 4 case of three women were stripped, one of them sexually assaulted and their two male members murdered. The leaked video of the incident went viral earlier this month and an First Information Report (FIR) has been re-lodged by the Manipur police, officials said.
The Union home ministry decided to refer the case to the CBI on Thursday. The government on Thursday also filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court and said that it has “zero-tolerance towards any crimes against women” and sought a direction from the top court that the trial in the case be concluded within six months of filing of the charge sheet. The Centre also stated that the trial should take place outside Manipur.
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“The central government considers the offences like the present one to be too heinous which deserve to be taken not only with the seriousness it deserves but justice should be seen to be done so that it has a deterrent effect throughout the nation with respect to crimes against women,” stated the affidavit filed by Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla.
The CBI’s special investigation team (SIT) is already investigating six other cases related to violence in Manipur and loot of weapons from state armouries.
Officials familiar with CBI probe said the agency will take the custody of accused persons arrested by Manipur police and interrogate them, besides taking the statements of the victims, their families, and witnesses.
Manipur video leak
The video of three women being stripped and paraded in Manipur surfaced on July 19, weeks after the incident took place, fanning fresh tensions in the state and leading to disruptions during Parliament’s monsoon session.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed in the case, one of the three women of a family was gang raped while a mob of 800-1000 men killed her brother and father on May 4.
Manipur police has so far arrested seven accused persons in the case, including some of those seen in the viral video, while hunt is on for others, according to a senior police officer, who didn’t want to be named.
The mobile phone from which the video was shot has been recovered and the person who shot the video has been arrested, reported ANI quoting people familiar with the matter.
The report also suggests that the home ministry held several rounds of talks with members of the warring Kuki and Meitei communities in a bid to restore normalcy in the state.
Manipur violence
Since May 3, Manipur has been gripped by ethnic clashes – primarily between the Kukis, which mostly reside in the hill districts, and Meiteis, the dominant community in Imphal Valley. At least 150 people have been killed and over 50,000 have been displaced so far.
Clashes first broke out on May 3 in Churachandpur town after tribal Kuki groups called for protests against a proposed tweak to the state’s reservation matrix, granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the majority Meitei community. Violence quickly engulfed the state where ethnic fault lines run deep, displacing tens of thousands of people who fled burning homes and neighbourhoods into jungles, often across state borders. The authorities quickly clamped a curfew and suspended internet, pumping in additional security forces to force a break in the spiraling clashes.
To bring normalcy, the Centre sent in personnel from the Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force, Assam Rifles, and Border Security Force.
The state has recorded 5,101 cases of arson and registered 6,065 first information reports (FIRs) related to various incidents of violence so far. At least 252 people have been arrested and around 12,740 preventive arrests have been made.
