Houses set afire, brother murdered while trying to rescue woman: FIR

Details of a first information report (FIR) filed on May 18 by Manipur police in the case involving women being stripped and paraded - videos of which went viral on Wednesday - detail the callous nature of the crime, while the inertia of the local police in acting, and the fact that they swooped in and arrested four of the perpetrators on Thursday after the videos went viral, highlight the complete collapse of the state's law and order and administrative infrastructure.

- Prawesh Lama

Manipur Police said they arrested one of the accused earlier in the day and three more later.

Security officials aware of the case said a mob first attempted to burn the houses in B Phainom village on the evening of May 3 (the first day that violence broke out across the state) but that attempt was foiled by villagers.

A larger mob returned the following day and burnt the village, housing Kukis, to the ground, according to the FIR.

The statement of the village chief, mentioned in the FIR, says that at around 3pm on May 4, a mob suspected to comprise members of Meitei Youth Organisations, Meetei Leepun, Kangleipak Kanba Lup (KKL), Arambai Tenggol and World Meitei Council (WMC) and Schedule Tribe Demand Committee (STDC) entered the village, carrying weapons such as AK, SLR, INSAS and .303 Rifles.