Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress on Sunday alleged that another woman was gang-raped in the Imphal East district of Manipur on May 15, stating that if such cases were being reported after months, then what is “hidden must be truly gruesome”.
Hitting out at the BJP government, the party alleged complete law and order failure in the ethnic strife-hit state, and also pointed to the May 4 incident in which two women were paraded naked by a mob.
The opposition party’s attack came over a news report that claimed an 18-year-old woman was abducted, assaulted and gang-raped in Manipur’s Imphal East district on May 15, and she approached the police on July 21, after which a zero First Information Report (FIR) was registered.
“The tragedy doesn’t end for Manipur! An 18-year-old girl was handed over to four armed men by women vigilantes. She was later assaulted and gang-raped in Imphal East in Manipur on May 15. If such brutal cases are coming in the public eye after more than a month, what’s still hidden must be truly gruesome,” the TMC tweeted, quoting the report.
“When will PM @narendramodi, HM @AmitShah and CM @NBirenSingh take accountability for the complete law and order failure?” it added.
A five-member fact-finding team of the Trinamool Congress visited Manipur on July 19. More than 160 people have lost their lives and several have been injured since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3, when a “Tribal Solidarity March” was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
Tensions further escalated on Wednesday after a video purportedly shot on May 4 surfaced online, showing two women from one of the warring communities being paraded naked by a group of men from the other side. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal valley, while tribals, including Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mostly in the hill districts.
Meanwhile, in West Bengal, the BJP continued to protest over the alleged assault and stripping of two women in Malda district, alleging the failure of the TMC government to maintain law and order.
In a tweet, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya on Saturday claimed that two tribal women were “stripped naked, tortured and beaten mercilessly, while the police remained a mute spectator” in Pakua Hat in Bamangola police station area of Malda on July 19.
The TMC said it was the result of a scuffle among a few women at a market, and the BJP was trying to politicise the issue.
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