Manipur blot exposes failures

2 other women raped, killed on May 4; no arrest

- Prawesh Lama

On May 4, just an hour after a mob stripped and paraded three women and allegedly gang-raped one of them in B Phainom village in Manipur, two more women were allegedly raped and murdered by a mob in the state capital of Imphal, according to details of a first information report (FIR) seen by HT.

Not only did the two incidents happen on the same day within an hour of each other, the victims hailed from the same community (Kuki) as did the perpetrators (Meitei), according to the FIRs filed in both cases. And just like in the case of the brutal sexual assault, where the first arrests happened only after a shocking 30-second video of the incident went viral on Wednesday, there have been no arrests in the Imphal case, according to police officers aware of the matter.

The two women who were allegedly raped and killed in Imphal were siblings who worked as caretakers at a carwash in the city, said the FIR filed by the victims’ father. The women, aged 21 and 24, were at a rented house when a mob entered their room and raped them before killing them, the FIR added.