New Delhi: The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that the case of a deplorable video from Manipur, which showed two women being paraded naked by a mob, will be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and stressed that its approach is “zero tolerance towards any crimes against women”.
The Centre said it considers the offences like the present one to be too heinous which deserve to be taken not only with the seriousness it deserves but justice should be seen to be done so that it has a deterrent effect throughout the nation with respect to crimes against women. The Centre requested the top court to transfer the trial in the case outside Manipur and it should be conducted in a time bound manner within 6 months after the filing of the chargesheet.
Last week, the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud told the Attorney General and Solicitor General that the court was “deeply disturbed” by a video showing two women being paraded naked and sexually assaulted in the violence-hit Manipur. The Chief Justice gave the Centre and Manipur government an ultimatum to either bring the perpetrators to book or else the judiciary will take action. The top court is scheduled to hear Centre’s response on Friday. The Manipur government has arrested 7 accused in the case and they are in police custody.
Ajay Kumar Bhalla, secretary Ministry of Home Affairs in affidavit filed in the apex court, said the government of Manipur vide letter dated July 26, 2023, has recommended 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 July 27. The investigation shall thus, be transferred to CBI.
The affidavit said, “The approach of the Central Government is of zero tolerance towards any crimes against women” and cited it as one of the reasons why it (with consent from the state government) has taken a decision to entrust the investigation to an independent investigating agency i.e. CBI.
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The affidavit said the Centre also believes that not only the investigation should be completed at the earliest but the trial should also be conducted in a time bound manner which must take place outside the State of Manipur.
“The Central Government, therefore, makes a specific request that the entire case including trial of the offence in question, be ordered to be transferred by this Hon'ble Court to any State outside the State of Manipur. The power to transfer the case/trial outside any State is only with this Hon'ble Court and therefore, the Central Government is making this request to this Hon'ble Court to pass such an order with a further direction to conclude the trial within a period of six months from the date of the filing of chargesheet by the CBI”, said the
The affidavit said that as remedial measures, it is submitted that the state government has formed District Psychological Support teams for providing mental health intervention at various relief camps through its order dated 18th May and 5th July, 2023. An all women team of 1 Sr Special (Psychiatrist), 1 Specialist (Psychiatry) and 1 Psychologist from District Hospital in Churachandpur was deputed to assist the victims. However, due to resistance from civil society organizations in Churachandpur, victims could not be approached by state authorities, it added.
“That to prevent repetition of such incidents, reporting of all such cases to the Director General of Police by the Police Station in-charge of the jurisdiction has been made mandatory. It is stated that one senior Police Officer, of the rank of Superintendent of Police will monitor these investigations under the direct supervision of the Director General of Police (DGP)A suitable reward for reporting such incidents and for providing information leading to the arrest of the absconding culprits will also be given”, said the affidavit.
The Centre said to ensure prevention of such cases and maintenance of law and order in the state, it has, in addition to the existing companies, been providing additional companies of CAPFS with effect from 3 May 2023. “124 additional companies of CAPFS and 185 columns of Army/Assam Rifles are presently deployed in Manipur in addition to the local police. A Unified Command comprising representation from all the Security Forces and Civil Administration under the chairmanship of Security Advisor has been established. Focus laid on intelligence gathering in collaboration with the Civil Administration to prevent any such incident in future. 13,782 persons have already been detained/bound down for violating curfew, other laws etc”, said the affidavit.
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