Manipur Women Paraded Naked Sought Police Help But Were Denied: CBI

Nearly a year after the jarring incident of two Manipuri women being paraded naked and sexually assaulted in Churachandpur, the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation revealed another shocking turn. The Indian Express reported that just before the incident in early May 2023, the women and two men belonging to the Kuki-Zomi community had sought refuge in a police Gypsy parked on the roadside. However, the driver refused to start the vehicle alleging there was no key. The CBI investigation revealed on April 29, 2024, that all the police officers fled the scene when they saw a large mob approach the vehicle and pull out the survivors from inside.

DGP (Manipur) Rajiv Singh told The Indian Express, “Departmental action has been already taken against the police personnel.” When asked about any criminal action against them, he said, “We are not probing the case, the CBI is probing.”

Details Of The Case

On May 3, 2023, a mob of approximately 900-1000 individuals, armed with sophisticated weapons, entered B Phainom village in the Kangpokpi District, vandalised and looted properties, assaulted villagers, committed murders, and sexually assaulted women. A video of the two Kuki-Zomi women paraded naked went viral, raising alarm bells throughout the nation. 

The video showed a mob of men, claimed to be from the Meitei community, parading at least two Kuki-Zo women naked towards a paddy field near B Phainom village, had gone viral on July 19, 2023. It was further alleged that two family members of one of the victims were also killed in the incident.

CBI Chargesheet: Shocking Details Revealed

The CBI revealed on April 29, 2024, that a large mob entered the Churachandpur village and assaulted the locals. The bureau chargesheet stated that two women and two men entered a police Gypsy parked on the roadside and urged the driver to start the vehicle. However, the police driver alleged that there was no key and denied help.

"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 said in the charge sheet.

The CBI further stated that 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. The charge sheet stated that the man was then thrashed to death. 

The chargesheet stated, “They pulled out a male victim and two women victims from inside the Gypsy. The policemen, meanwhile, left the spot leaving the victims alone with the mob. They tore off the clothes of both the women victims and started thrashing a male victim… One of the woman victims was present at the nearby spot and witnessed the entire incident." 

The chargesheet has been filed against 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. The accused have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including those pertaining to gang rape, murder, outraging the modesty of a woman and criminal conspiracy, the CBI said.