Manipur violence: Women paraded naked had been denied refuge in police vehicle, reveals CBI chargesheet

New Delhi, India

Last year, shocking images of the stripping and parading of two women in the eastern India state of Manipur came out and horrified the nation. Now, the chargesheet submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) about the incident has come out.

The Indian Express reported on Tuesday (Apr 30), citing the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), that before a crowd paraded the two women from the Kuki-Zomi group naked and assaulted them, they had sought refuge inside a police Gypsy parked beside the road. However, when they asked the police driver to start the vehicle, he stated there was "no key".

Two other male victims were also in the police Gypsy. According to the chargesheet, all of the police officers present left from the spot as the mob pulled out the victims from the vehicle.

According to the CBI investigation, the incident happened in Churachandpur on May 3. In October, a chargesheet was filed against six people and a juvenile at Guwahati's special court.

The two ladies, one in her 20s and the other in her 40s were forced to walk nude towards a field by a group of men in a video that went viral in July. 

Also read: Manipur: Election commission orders fresh voting across six polling stations

What does the CBI chargesheet say?

“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 chargesheet reads.

“…The driver of Gypsy suddenly drove and stopped the vehicle near the violent mob of around 1,000 people, and the male victim again requested the police to start the vehicle, but he was asked to keep silent. After some time, one police personnel came and told his colleagues that the man had stopped breathing. On hearing this, the male victim told the woman victim that his father was beaten to death,” it said.

The CBI had opened a case in response to the Manipur government's request and the Centre's notice. The accused have been charged with multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, including gangrape, murder, outraging the modesty of a woman, and criminal conspiracy. 

All the accused, Huirem Herodash Meitei (32), Arun Khundongbam alias Nanao (31), Ningombam Tomba Singh alias Tomthin (18), Pukhrihongbam Suranjoy Meitei (24), Nameirakpam Kiram Meitei (30), and a juvenile were apprehended by Manipur police, according to the chargesheet.