India: Woman stripped and raped in Manipur breaks silence, says was 'left to the mob by the police'

The day after a distressing video surfaced, showing two women from the Kuki-Zomi community being publicly humiliated and sexually assaulted in Manipur, one of the survivorstold The Indian Express that they were“left to the mob by the police”.

The video captures the horrifying scene of two women, one in her 20s and the other in her 40s, being forced to walk naked down a road and into a field, surrounded by a group of men.

Some of these men are seen dragging the women towards the field while subjecting them to sexual assault. In their police complaint filed on May 18, the survivor also alleged that the younger woman was brutally gang raped in broad daylight.

Survivor speaks out

According to the complaint, the women sought refuge in a forest after their village in Kangpokpi district was attacked by a mob.

They were later rescued by Thoubal police and were being taken to the police station. However, their journey was halted by another mob, around two kilometresaway from the police station, and the police seemingly handed them over to the crowd.

The younger woman, speaking to The Indian Express from her husband's home, accused the police of being present during the mob attack on their village. She claimed that the police picked them up near their home and then left them on the road with the mob, essentially giving them over to their attackers.

“The police were there with the mob which was attacking our village. The police picked us up from near home, and took us a little away from the village and left us on the road with the mob. We were given to them by police,” she said.

Also watch | Disturbing video emerges from Manipur, Indian Supreme Court takes notice

The complaint mentioned that there were five people together during the incident, the two women seen in the video, another woman in her 50s who was also subjected to the same humiliation, and the father and brother of the younger woman, whom they alleged were killed by the mob.

The survivorswere unaware of the existence of the video until it went viral, causing national outrage and finally prompting the state government and police to take action, two months after the initial police report was filed.

While numerous men were part of the mob, the younger woman claimed to recognise a few of them, including one whom she knew to be a friend of her brother's.

Following the public outcry over the video, the government confirmed the arrest of one person linked to the incident on Thursday (July 20) morning. The police stated that they are actively pursuing further arrests of the perpetrators.

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