NEW DELHI: The national commission for women (NCW) has defended its ‘inaction’ on the June 12 complaint over parading of Kuki women naked in Manipur.
A video of two Kuki women being paraded naked by a mob of Meitei men in Manipur went viral on social media on July 19.
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But the NCW received a complaint on June 12 in regards to the horrific incident that took place at Kangpokpi district of Manipur on May 4.
However, the NCW failed to take any action over the incident and now, after a video of the brutality went viral and put the commission under the scanner, it is trying to shift total blame on the government.
Speaking on the matter, NCW chief Rekha Sharma said that it had approached the Manipur government thrice after receiving the complaint on June 12.
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“There were many complaints and that too from people outside India and outside Manipur,” NCW chief Rekha Sharma said.
She said: “Firstly, it had to be clarified whether whatever was written is true. Manipur government has to clarify and if it is true then they have to work on it. So, accordingly, we wrote to them.”
“We reached out to authorities but no response was received from them but then we took suo motu cognisance when the video (of women being paraded naked) went viral,” the NCW chief said.
The national commission for women (NCW) reportedly ignored a complaint that was made about the incident 38 days ago.
After the video went viral, the NCW took suo motu cognisance of the case.
However, the NCW was sent a complaint on the incident on June 12.
But, the NCW ‘ignored’ the complaint and the complainants – the North American Manipur Tribal Association (NAMTA) – never received a response or an acknowledgement.
The complaint stated that on May 4, two women from a village in Kangpokpi district of Manipur were “disrobed, paraded naked, beaten and then encircled by a marauding Meitei mob and raped in public”.
The complaint also appealed to the NCW to “urgently assess the disproportionate victimization of Kuki-Zomi indigenous tribal women through brutal and inhumane acts of sexual violence, including rape, kidnapping, public lynching, immolation and murder”.
“Witness accounts reveal the most harrowing and distressing details, including the incrimination of Meitei women vigilantes as enablers and perpetrators of gender-based violence. Victims and survivors allege that Meitei women vigilantes have actively participated in the attacks and assaults on Kuki-Zomi women and children,” the complaint alleged.
It added: “Several Kuki-Zomi women have been forced to flee for their lives during advanced stages of pregnancy or while recuperating from C-section surgeries. Some have given birth in ad hoc refugee camps…”
The complaint also listed several other cases of harassment, rape and sexual assault on Kuki women by Meitei mobs.
The BJP governments – both at the Centre and in Manipur have been slammed by almost all sections of the society across the country for failing to protect the dignity of women.
On May 4, just a day after violent ethnic clashes broke out between the Kuki and Meitei communities in Manipur, two Kuki women were stripped naked and then paraded on the streets of a village, one of whom was also gan-raped later in a paddy field.