The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will probe the incident of two women paraded naked by a mob in violence-torn Manipur, officials said on Thursday, adding that the government will also seek shifting of the trial to neighbouring Assam.
The incident, which reportedly took place on May 4, triggered a nation-wide outrage after a video of it surfaced on social media last week. Meanwhile, police on Thursday arrested one more person in connection with the incident, taking the total number of arrests in the case to eight.
The two women are alleged to have been sexually assaulted before being set free by the mob. A 26-second video of the incident had surfaced on July 19. One of the women seen in the video is the wife of an ex-Armyman, who served as a subedar in the Assam Regiment and had even fought in the Kargil War.
A complaint in connection with the video was lodged around a month ago on June 21 at Saikul police station in Kangpokpi district. More than 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 organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts.
