The CBI has filed a chargesheet against six cops including a juvenile in a case related to sexual assault of two women from the Kuki-Zomi community, on the during the ethnic violence in the north eastern state last year.
The Manipur Police personnel reportedly drove two women from the Kuki-Zomi community who had sought refuge in their official gypsy, to a mob of about 1,000 Meiti rioters in Kangpokpi district, on May 3, 2023, as per the CBI chargesheet, PTI reported.
The chargesheet further states that the women, including a Kargil war veteran's wife, were subsequently stripped naked, paraded, and sexually assaulted.
The CBI chargesheet has been filed against Huirem Herodas Meitei, who was arrested by Manipur police in July, and five others. Additionally, a report has been filed against a juvenile.
The accused face charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including gang rape, murder, outraging the modesty of a woman, and criminal conspiracy, according to the chargesheet filed by the CBI.
The chargesheet says the women pleaded with the police personnel to take them to safety. The cops told them that "there was no key" to the vehicle and were denied assistance," according to officials in know of the charge sheet.
A video showing the two women being paraded naked, surrounded by a mob of men, went viral in July last year, nearly two months after the incident on May 3.
A video of the incident, which sparked outrage across the nation, surfaced on July 19, more than two months after the incident which occurred on May 3. The video depicted two disrobed women being paraded and assaulted before being taken to a field by a mob of Mettei men.
The incident came to focus when the woman filed a 'zero FIR' filed with the Bishnupur police station in August last year. She claimed that she was gang-raped by a group of men on May 3, the day ethnic violence broke out between Kuki Zo and Meitei communities over the granting of Schedule led Tribe status to the latter, an indigenous community.
-with agency inputs
Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.