Imphal: Hours after the arrest of Huirem Herodas Meitei, the main accused in the Manipur sexual assault and alleged gang rape case, hundreds of angry women torched his house in his village in Imphal. According to reports, after getting information about the arrest of Huirem Herodas Meitei in connection with the shocking incident, hundreds of women from Pechi Awang Leikai village in Thoubal district reached there in large numbers and ransacked his house and then set it on fire.
#Watch , Yesterday, 20th July, women in Imphal burnt the house of one of the accused in the Manipur viral video case. Four arrests have been made in the case so far. pic.twitter.com/6XOl4kdqGY— ANI (@ANI) 21 July 2023
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It may be noted that Huirem is one of the four persons who have been arrested by the Manipur Police in connection with a viral video which shows two Kuki women being assaulted by a violent mob in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district on May 4. was shown molesting and parading naked. The viral video went viral on Wednesday, triggering national outrage, strong condemnation and calls for stern action against the culprits from all corners.
The attackers were armed with AK rifles, SLRs, INSAS and .303 rifles: FIR
The FIR registered by the Manipur police regarding the incident states that an armed mob numbering around one thousand attacked a village in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district on May 4 and set houses on fire before abducting two women Gave, looted, murdered and brutally raped. The forced nude parade, captured on video, sparked outrage across the country.
The FIR registered in the matter on June 21 revealed the mayhem that preceded the abduction and the shameful treatment of the tribal women, a video of which has now become the basis for raids and arrests of people linked to the incident.
The FIR claimed that a man was lynched by a mob as he tried to save his sister from rape on May 4, before both were paraded naked and molested in front of others.
“Around 900-1000 people barged into our village (on May 4) carrying sophisticated weapons like AK rifles, SLRs, INSAS and .303 rifles… in Dweep subdivision, Kangpokpi district, about 68 km south of Saikul police station . The violent mob ransacked all the houses and burnt them after looting all movable properties,” said the FIR lodged at Saikul police station.
It said that the mob entered the village around 3 pm and took away cash, furniture, electronic items, food grains, furniture and cattle heads from the houses. The FIR claimed that the mob also abducted five people, who were rescued by police personnel from a nearby forest.
After the attack, the five villagers fled into the forest out of fear. On July 19, a day after a video humiliating women surfaced, the police arrested four men for making women parade naked and molesting them.
The arrests were made a day after the video surfaced, with a complaint in this regard being filed almost a month ago, on June 21, at the Saikul police station in Kangpokpi district.
Over 160 people have lost their lives, and several have been injured, since ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3, when a ‘tribal solidarity march’ was held in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
The Meitei people account for about 53 percent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while the tribals, including the Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 percent and live mostly in the hill districts.