Assault on Manipur women: Authorities claim naked parading was not linked to fake news

The horrific act of sexual assault in northeast Indian state of Manipur, whose graphic video shocked millions across India and beyond, occurred spontaneously, authorities have claimed, according to local media reports.

Earlier, reports said that the act of two women being paraded naked by a mob was triggered by a fake video showing a woman's corpse wrapped in plastic. But the authorities said that was not the case.

"The attackers were raiding about nine villages in the area since May 3 night, the day the crisis started in the state. Next day this incident (the women being paraded naked) happened," a senior security source was quoted as saying by the Times of India, adding, "It was a spontaneous act."

Two women from an ethnic group under attack in Manipur were seen being paraded naked by a rampaging mob. Scores of young men were seen walking alongside as other men drag one of the distressed women into the fields, groping her on the way, in a horrific video that went viral on social media.

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The viral video shows an incident from May 4, according to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), but police only made arrests once the footage went online this week.

Also watch |Manipur: Protesting women set fire to the house of the accused

Manipur Police described the incident on Twitter as "a case of abduction, gang rape and murder" on Wednesday, July 20.

So far four people have been arrested and police raids are ongoing. Meanwhile, the house of one of the accused was burned down by the women in Imphal protesting against act of sexual violence on May 4.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the incident as "shameful", adding that "what happened with the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven."

The row has put spotlight on months-long ethnic violence in Manipur that first erupted on May 3. As India's parliament convened for its Monsoon session in New Delhi, the opposition accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party governments in the state and at Centre of failing to control the violence.

The Supreme Court also took cognisance of the matter and warned that if the government doesn't act then they will.

Meanwhile, an India Today report said that the incidents of sexual violence against women in Manipur, including the one seen in the horrific videowere reported to India's National Commission for Women (NCW) in June, over a month before the video of two women being paraded naked emerged on social media.

Manipur ethnic violence

Manipur has grappled with violence in recent months.

Clashes broke out in the state capital Imphal on May 3 after thousands of demonstrators, mostly from the Kuki tribe, took part in a rally against the majority Meitei ethnic community, against their demandfor special tribal status.

Atribal status would enable the people fromMeitei community to buy land and provide more opportunities for government jobs.

Over 100 people have been killed and tens of thousands more displaced since then.

The incident on May 4 occurred after the women’s village was burnt down and two men were beaten to death.

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