May 4 video of women sparks fresh tension in Manipur hills

Tension mounted in the hills of Manipur after a video from May 4 surfaced on Wednesday showing two women from one of the warring communities being paraded naked by a few men from the other side, officials said in Imphal on Wednesday.

The video was doing the rounds on the eve of a planned protest march announced by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) on Thursday to highlight their plight.

The police said a case of abduction, gangrape and murder has been registered at Nongpok Sekmai police station in Thoubal district against unknown armed miscreants.

In a statement, they said an all-out effort is on to arrest the culprits at the earliest.

According to a spokesperson of ITLF, the "despicable scene, which happened on May 4 in Kangpokpi district, shows men constantly molesting the helpless women, who cry and plead with their captors.

"The horrifying ordeal suffered by these innocent women is amplified by the perpetrators' decision to share the video, which shows the identity of the victims, on social media."

While condemning the "sickening act", the spokesperson in a statement demanded that the central and state governments, National Commission for Women and National Commission for Scheduled Tribes take cognisance of the offence and bring the culprits before the law.

The Kuki-Zo tribals are planning to raise this issue as well during a proposed protest march in Churchandpur on Thursday.

Manipur state has been witnessing ethnic clashes since May 3 between majority the Meiteis, concentrated in Imphal valley, and the Kukis, occupying the hills. Over 160 people have been killed in the violence so far.