As the chorus of protests against the sexual assault of two women in Manipur grew louder, the four arrested men were remanded in 11-day police custody on Friday.
Police said the four accused in the sexual assault case, who were arrested, were remanded in police custody till July 31 by a court in Thoubal district.
It may be recalled that the complaint in connection with the case was lodged around a month ago June 21 at Saikul police station in Kangpokpi district.
The house of another suspect, who is yet to be arrested, was vandalised and torched by angry locals on Friday afternoon, police said.
According to police, the suspect’s house was located at Wangjing in Thoubal district.
“The suspect is yet to be arrested. He possibly fled home after coming to know that police were looking for him,” an official said.
The house of the key accused in the case was torched on Thursday, hours after he was arrested by police. According to police, he was seen in the video prominently directing the mob at B. Phainom village of Kangpokpi district.
Meanwhile, proceedings in both the Houses of Parliament were paralysed for the second consecutive day over the issue of the ethnic violence in Manipur even as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in the Lok Sabha the government was ready for a discussion on the matter. Opposition members demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a statement followed by a debate.
As the opposition parties escalated their attack on the Centre over the Manipur issue, the Congress demanded that President Droupadi Murmu exercise her powers to dismiss the state government.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that the prime minister make an elaborate statement in Parliament on the Manipur situation, saying he could have dismissed the state chief minister instead of making “false equivalence” with Congress- governed states if he was angry over the matter.
“If the country now has any hope it is from President Droupadi Murmu ji. We want to urge you to use your special powers and dismiss the government in Manipur,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera told reporters.
Amid the political slugfest, BJP MP Locket Chatterjee broke down as she cited a number of cases of crime against women, including alleged disrobing, in West Bengal during and after the recent panchayat polls.
“The situation in Manipur also prevails in West Bengal,” she told reporters in Delhi, as she hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Targeting the Centre over the Manipur sexual assault case, Banerjee, who is also the TMC supremo, said the BJP’s ‘Beti Bachao’ scheme has now turned into ‘Beti Jalao’ (Burn our daughters).
Eminent personalities in Manipur that included a film maker, musician, academician and entrepreneur termed the incident as “barbaric, shameful and against the human race” and demanded “strictest” punishment for the culprits.
The immediate focus should be on initiating efforts to stop the ongoing violence in the northeastern state, they said.
“It is an utterly barbaric and shameful incident against the human race,” National Award winning filmmaker Haobam Paban Kumar told PTI.
In West Bengal, Filmmaker and activist Aparna Sen broke down when asked by reporters for her reaction and described the incident as “narimedh yagna” (woman sacrifice).
“I don’t know what to say or how to react to such a happening … All I can see is a narimedh yagna has taken place (in Manipur). Will it matter if I open my mouth? We have been giving our opinions for years. Have those mattered? she said.
Different tribal organizations in Jharkhand took out a protest march in capital Ranchi against the violence and alleged torture on women in Manipur.
Leaders and cadres of the Assam Congress unit organised a Bonti Projolon Karjyaxuchi’ (earthen lamp lighting programme) at the state party headquarters, Rajiv Bhawan in Guwahati as a show of support for the two women victims in Manipur. (PTI)
