Manipur CM regrets Army chief's statement on Manorama

Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh has regretted the recent statement of Army Chief General NC Vij on Manorama Devi incident.

Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh has regretted the recent statement of Army Chief General NC Vij that Mnaorama Devi, who was arrested by the 17th Assam Rifles and found dead the next day, was not raped.

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A judicial inquiry and an army court of inquiry are looking into the circumstances that led to the death of the 30 year-old woman.

"While the inquiries are going on, the Army Chief should not have said that (that Manorama Devi was not raped)," he said in a meeting of the Manipur Editor's Guild Forum in Imphal on Monday.

"What will happen if the reports of the inquiries contradict his statement?" he asked.

Both the inquiries will take some time to be completed and the "culprits will not go unpunished", he added.

Official sources had earlier said the report of the Central Forensic Laboratory, Kolkata, had confirmed the presence of human semen stains in Manorama Devi's undergarments. Her death on July 11 had sparked off the current stir for withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the state.