The United States has condemned the incident of tribal women being paraded naked and raped in Manipur. The horrifying incident from the ethnic violence-ridden state of Manipur happened on May 4 but came to light a few days ago as the viral video gripped the nation and captured global attention.
A spokesperson of the US State Department said they were deeply concerned by reports of the incident that happened over two months ago, a day after the ethnic clashes erupted in the northeastern state, calling it “brutal” and “terrible”. Meanwhile, protest rallies are being carried out in several parts of India condemning the incident.
The victims were aged 21 and 19. They were targeted a day after the intense ethnic clashes erupted between the tribal Kuki people and the majority ethnic Meitei community over potential changes to economic benefits given to the Kuki. An armed mob, nearly a thousand strong, had torched and looted houses in the Kangpokpi district of Manipur, killed and raped wantonly before abducting two women whose forced naked parade caught on video outraged the entire nation.
Although the situation was briefly brought under control after Centre sent paramilitary forces to the northeastern state, the violence and killings resumed soon after.
Opposition parties have also been demanding the Centre address the issue in the ongoing Parliament monsoon session. They have also demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak on the issue in the Parliament.
On the opening day of the new Parliament session, Modi broke his silence for the first time on the Manipur violence and condemned the assault on the tribal women as “shameful”.
