'Manipur women, who were paraded naked, approached police Gypsy but…’: CBI chargesheet

The CBI's investigation disclosed the harrowing incident that occurred in Churachandpur in May last year.

Nearly a year after the shocking incident of stripping and parading of two women in Manipur's Churachandpur that rocked the nation, more disturbing details have emerged now. The Indian Express, citing a chargesheet submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), reported on Tuesday that just before a mob paraded the two women from the Kuki-Zomi community naked and sexually assaulted them, the duo had sought refuge inside a police Gypsy parked by the roadside. However, the police driver, upon their request to start the vehicle, claimed there was “no key”.

Security personnel in Manipur’s Imphal. (Reuters file)

Two other male victims were also present inside the police Gypsy. Subsequently, all the policemen on the scene vacated the area, leaving the victims vulnerable as a large mob forcibly removed them from the vehicle, the chargesheet claimed.

The CBI's investigation disclosed the harrowing Manipur incident that occurred in Churachandpur in May last year. The Indian Express reported that the chargesheet was lodged against six persons and a juvenile before a special court in Guwahati in October.

Two family members of the women were also murdered by the mob that numbered around 800-1000, according to the FIR, HT had earlier reported.

The Police FIR had said one of the women was gangraped. She later told The Wire that Manipur Police had been present at the crime scene but did not help them. The harrowing video, which forced the Biren Singh government into acknowledging the scale and type of violence in the state and apprehends an accused months after the incident took place, shows two women stripped naked and being paraded by a mob. One of the survivors in the video told the news portal, “Manipur’s Police were present there, but they didn’t help us.”

Another survivor said she saw four policemen sitting in the car and looking at the violence. “They didn’t do anything to help us,” she said. Her father and brother were killed in this mob attack.

More than 200 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic strife between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kukis since May 3 last year.

Manipur violence: Takeaways from CBI chargesheet

• “A spate of incidents took place at other places thereafter. Mob belonging to the Meitei community initiated an attack on one village by setting houses on fire and also targeted a few residences in neighbouring villages. The mob deliberately set the church on fire. Investigation also revealed that on May 4, there was a meeting of the pradhans of surrounding Meitei villages and the chiefs of other community villages. However, despite the decision taken in the meeting, the mob burnt down the church, some houses and nearby villages,” the CBI chargesheet stated.
• “Probe has revealed that out of fear, the complainant, three victims and two men, another man with his daughter, and a grand-daughter, ran into the forest. The mob noticed the hiding place of members of a family and upon seeing them started shouting ‘people are hiding here’."
• "The members of the mob with a big axe in hand rushed towards them and threatened them saying, ‘the way you people in Churachandpur treated us (Meitei people), we would do the same thing to you’. The mob forcefully brought all the family members to the main road and separated them, taking one of the victims and her granddaughter in one direction. Two women and their father and their village chief in one direction, while two women and two men in another direction,” the CBI said.
• “While approaching the police gypsy, the mob again separated the victims…Two (women) victims managed to get inside the police Gypsy. Two policemen along with a driver dressed in plain khaki uniform, were with them inside the police gypsy, and three to four policemen were outside. One male victim requested the policemen to start the vehicle, however the driver of the police Gypsy replied, ‘there is no key’. They kept on begging the policemen repeatedly to help them and save a man being assaulted by the mob, but the ‘police did not help them’,” the CBI said in the chargesheet.