NHRC notice to Manipur govt over women being paraded naked

The NHRC said it has "taken cognisance of complaints seeking its urgent intervention into the incident of a mob taking away five members of a tribal family from police custody in B Phainom village of Kangpokpi district in Manipur on May 4".

New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday said it has issued a notice to the Manipur government and the state's police chief over two women allegedly being paraded naked by a mob. The NHRC, in a statement, also said that it would like to know about the steps taken or proposed to be taken to safeguard human rights of the citizens, especially women and vulnerable sections of the society, from such "barbaric incidents".

The NHRC said it has "taken cognisance of complaints seeking its urgent intervention into the incident of a mob taking away five members of a tribal family from police custody in B Phainom village of Kangpokpi district in Manipur on May 4". "Allegedly, the mob paraded naked the two of the women, brutally gangraped one of them, and murdered two male members of the family, who tried to protect the women," the rights panel said in a statement.

Tension mounted in the hills of Manipur after a May 4 video surfaced online on Wednesday showing two women from one of the warring communities in Manipur's Kangpokpi district being paraded naked by a mob from the other side. The commission has issued notices to the chief secretary of the northeastern state and the director general of police, seeking a detailed report in four weeks.

"It should include the status of the investigation of the FIRs registered with regard to the incidents, health status of the victim women and other injured persons as well as compensation, if any, granted to the aggrieved persons/families," the statement said. Mizoram's apex women's organisation Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (MHIP) on Thursday wrote a letter to NHRC urging it to take immediate action over the incident of naked parading and molestation of two women in strife-torn Manipur. (PTI)