18-year-old woman assaulted, gangraped in Manipur on May 15, approached police on Friday; case registered
The Hindu
“Then there was this argument between the three men who raped me and the one who did not, that I should be killed… ”
An 18-year-old woman who was abducted, assaulted and gang-raped in Imphal East in Manipur on May 15, approached the police on Friday, after which a zero First Information Report (FIR) was registered, a police source said.
According to the FIR, the woman said that a group of women — whom she identified as Meira Paibis (women torchbearers), also known as ‘Mothers of Manipur’ — had handed her over to four armed men wearing black clothes. The Hindu has accessed a copy of the FIR.
The rape survivor, who was admitted in a critical condition at a hospital in the neighbouring State of Nagaland, approached the Kangpokpi police on Friday, following which a zero FIR was registered under various sections of assault, attempt to murder, abduction, gangrape, and atrocities against Scheduled Tribes, against “unknown miscreants and Meira Paibis.” Zero FIRs are filed irrespective of jurisdiction. The case has been transferred to the Imphal East station, a police source said on Saturday.
This is one of a number of cases of sexual violence that have been reported from the State since ethnic violence between the tribal Kuki and the majority Meitei communities erupted on May 3.
The traumatised woman came forward to complain after a video went viral this week, showing three women who were stripped and paraded, one of them raped, in Thoubal on May 4.
The FIR states that, around 5 p.m. on May 15, four men abducted the woman in a purple colour car to Wangkhei Ayangpali where they punched and hit her. “Then they called Meira Paibis and several local men who took turns in slapping and punching me. Then I heard one of the ladies saying that we must call “Arambai Tengol”. Then 4 four arrived in black shirt with some logos on their back and all of them were carrying guns,” the FIR said.
She added that two of the men were in their mid-30s, while two appeared to be in their 50s. She said that one of the woman among the mob gave clear instructions to the four men to kill her. The four men then shoved her in another car and drove away. “They continuously asked me random questions and no matter what I answered or tried to remain silent they would slap me and couple of times also hit me with the butt of their guns. Then we reached a place which was slightly on a hill top where they decided to kill me,” she said in the FIR.
The All-India level NEET examination was started a few years ago to counter complaints of corruption during the joint entrance examinations held at the State level. AIDSO had warned the authorities that the solution to the menace of corruption was not changing the examination system, but to investigate the corruption and punish the guilty.
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