Manipur women naked paraded incident: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will handover to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) the Manipur viral video case in which women were seen being paraded naked, molested and allegedly gangraped.
The video which had gone viral was of May 4 after violence between two ethnic tribes Meitei and Kuki erupted in the state.
According to reports, the trials will be held outside the state.
The trial would be sought to be held in a court in neighbouring Assam, they said.
The officials also said the Union Home Ministry is in touch with both Meitei and Kuki groups and talks are in an advanced stage to restore normalcy in Manipur.
Sources further said that the law and order situation is relatively better in Manipur, however, not normal.
Nearly 35,000 security personnel are on the ground, there is no shortage of medicine and daily supplies, prices of food and essential supplies are under control. A large number of government staff are returning to work and schools also resuming, they said.
The nearly three-month-long ethnic violence in Manipur has claimed over 160 lives.
The video of the May 4 incident involving the two women went viral over social media earlier this month, sparking nationwide outrage.
The top court, on July 20, took note of the incident and had said it was "deeply disturbed" by the video and use of women as instruments for perpetrating violence was "simply unacceptable in a constitutional democracy".
A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud had directed the Centre and Manipur government to take immediate remedial, rehabilitative and preventive steps and apprise it of the action taken.
Filing its response, the Centre said, “The Government of Manipur vide letter dated 26.07.2023 has recommended to Secretary, DOP&T for entrusting the case to CBI for further investigation, which has been duly recommended to Secretary, DOP&T by MHA vide letter dated 27.07.2023. The investigation shall thus, be transferred to CBI.”
The opposition seized the opportunity to corner the Modi government over the issue which has rocked the Monsoon session of Parliament since it began on July 20.
Meanwhile, in another development, the mobile phone from which Manipur viral video was shot has been recovered and the person who shot the video is arrested, top government sources have informed.
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