Manipur shocker: Four including main culprit arrested; CM says all involved will be held at the earliest

The Manipur Police have reportedly arrested four persons in connection with the case of two tribal women being paraded naked and molested on May 4. One person was arrested on Wednesday and the rest were held today. The main culprit has been identified as Huirem Herodas, who can be seen in the 26-second clip that surfaced on Wednesday. In the video that went viral on social media, a group of people can be seen parading two tribal women naked and molesting them in the Senapati district.

Also read: Manipur woman, who was paraded naked, makes stunning claim: 'Police left us with those men'

Taking suo motu cognisance of the video that surfaced on Wednesday, the police last night said a case of abduction, gang rape, and murder was registered at Nongpok Sekmai police station in Thoubal district against unknown armed men and that all-out efforts were on to arrest the culprits.

During the night-long raids, supervised by senior IPS officers, the person identified as Huirem Heradash Singh, age 32, was arrested from Thoubal district while a manhunt had been launched to nab others. The two women are alleged to have been sexually assaulted before being set free by the mob comprising the majority community.

After the second arrest was made, Manipur CM Biren Singh said: "Those who are involved (in the incident) will be arrested at the earliest." He also condemned the incident and said there is absolutely no place for such heinous acts in society. He assured strict actions including possible capital punishment against the perpetrators.

The chief minister further said that a thorough investigation is currently underway and the government will ensure strict action is taken against all the perpetrators, including capital punishment. "Let it be known, there is absolutely no place for such heinous acts in our society," he tweeted.

Meanwhile, villagers set the house of the accused Heradash Singh on fire and have also ostracised his family. The chief minister termed the incident as "inhuman" and said the culprits deserve "capital punishment". Expressing strong condemnation, he labelled it as a crime against humanity and maintained that his government would not remain silent on this heinous crime.

The chief minister further said his government was putting in all possible efforts to restore peace and normalcy in the state and talks have been held with various civil society organizations of different communities, businessmen, and leaders of religious institutions as part of this process. "As we have lived together for a long time and must live together in the future too, misunderstanding amongst communities can be sorted out and addressed with talks, so that we can live together again peacefully," he added.

Influential Meitei body - Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) - also issued a statement saying it strongly condemns "the barbaric and uncivilised act of violence on two ladies parading naked in broad daylight at a remote village in Manipur". The statement said that COCOMI is trying all possible means to hunt down the culprits wherever they are.

"The entire Meitei community is in deep shame and anguish over the clip...COCOMI firmly believes that all those involved in the barbaric act will not be spared by the Meetei community in any ways and befitting punishment will surely be given to everyone involved in the crime," it said.

One of the eyewitnesses of the May 4 incident, Hahat Vaiphei, claimed the villagers of B Phainom thwarted a similar attempt by a mob the previous day. "When we started to relocate from the village, we were caught by the mob. They dragged us away from the village as we made appeals to spare us," Vaiphei told a YouTube channel run from neighbouring Mizoram. She said the mob forced the two women to parade naked before raping them.

(With inputs from PTI)