More than a month before the horrific video of two women being assaulted publicly in Manipur went viral, activists had informed the National Commission for Women about not only this case but other brutal instances of rape as well, besides incidents of kidnapping, lynching, immolation and even murder in the strife-torn state.
In a letter written to NCW chief Rekha Sharma on June 12 by two activists who had visited the state and the North American Manipur Tribal Association, it was claimed that there was "numbing silence" and under-reporting of sexual and gender-based violence dimensions of the conflict and how Kuki-Zomi women unequivocally and disproportionately experienced rapes, sexual assaults, and murders by "Meitei vigilante mob".
On May 4, two women of Manipur were disrobed, paraded naked, beaten, and then encircled by a marauding mob and raped in public.
"The state police commandos remained mere spectators while the mobs remained silent spectators to the lynchings and torching of homes...," the letter claimed.
After the video of the May 4 incident went viral on July 19, Sharma took suo-motu cognisance and claimed the NCW had reached out to Manipur authorities but did not hear back from them.
Speaking to PTI, Sharma accepted receiving the complaint from the activists.
"We had to verify the authenticity. And also the complaints were not from Manipur, some were not even from India. We reached out to authorities but no response was received from them but then we took suo motu cognisance when the video (of women being paraded naked) went viral," she said.
In their letter, the activists had appealed to Sharma to take action in the six incidents of violence against women from the Kuki tribe listed by them.
The incidents were listed based upon testimonies of victims and survivors of physical and sexual assaults and rapes shared with the activists.
A copy of the letter is available with PTI.
The other incidents listed in the appeal are alleged harassment and abuse of students and staff from Kuki-Zomi communities at a university on May 3, harassment of two young women at an institute on May 4, the alleged rape and murder of two young women on May 5, the murder of a 45-year old woman and sexual assault of an 18-year-old on May 15.
In the appeal, the civil rights group said the witness accounts revealed the most harrowing and distressing details, including the incrimination of Meitei women vigilantes as enablers and perpetrators of gender-based violence.
"Victims and survivors allege that Meitei women vigilantes have actively participated in the attacks and assaults on Kuki-Zomi women and children," the letter claimed.
Tension mounted in the hills of Manipur after the May 4 video surfaced on Wednesday showing two women from one of the warring communities being paraded naked by a group of men from the other side.
Four people have been arrested in connection with the incident, official sources in Imphal said on Thursday night.
The horrific footage surfaced only on Wednesday and became viral after the internet ban was lifted.
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 mostly in the hill districts.
