The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum(ITLF) has condemned the act in a video which went viral on social media platforms on Wednesday showing a large Meitei mob parading two Kuki-Zo tribal women naked and molesting duo on the street towards a paddy field.
Describing the act in the viral video as a ‘sickening act’, ITLF on Wednesday demanded to the central and state governments, National Commission for Women, and National Commission for Scheduled Tribes to take cognizance of the offense and take all necessary measures to bring justice to the culprits.
The incident in the video which surfaced in social media recently is believed to have occurred on May 4 in Kangpokpi district wherein two women were being paraded in a road near a paddy filed by a a large group of men, some with sticks in their hands.
ITLF stated that evidence of atrocities committed against Kuki-Zo tribals continue to surface after two-and-a-half-months into the ethnic conflict in Manipur. A video which went viral today showed a large Meitei mob parading two Kuki-Zo tribal women naked toward a paddy field to be gang-raped.
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“The despicable scene shows the men constantly molesting the helpless women, who cry and plead with their captors,” ITLF said and added that the gangrape of the women in B. Phainom village happened after the village was burnt down and two men – one middle-aged and another a teenager – were brutally beaten to death by the mob.
The horrifying ordeal suffered by the innocent women is amplified by the perpetrators’ decision to share the video, which showed the identity of the victims, on social media, it added.
Mention may be made that the horrifying ordeal of the incident was also published by The Hills Journal on June 4, 2023 wherein Phainom village Chief had narrated the incident which occurred on May 4 and how his village was burnt down by the Meitei mob. Earlier, the village chief had also reportedly lodged a case to the Saikul Police Station for taking necessary action
