GUWAHATI: A sixth suspect in the Manipur viral video case was arrested on Saturday in connection with the May 4 naked parading and molestation of two tribal women in the Kangpokpi district.
Police arrested the sixth suspect from the Thoubal district. Five suspects, including a juvenile, were arrested earlier. Four of those have been sent to 11-day police remand.
Police had made the first arrest on Thursday, a day after a 26-second video of the horrific incident surfaced on July 19. Three more arrests were made later that day. The fifth accused, 19-year-old youth, was also arrested on Saturday. One of the women seen in the video is the wife of an ex-army man, who served as a subedar in the Assam Regiment and had even fought in the Kargil War.
"The State Police is making an all-out effort to arrest the remaining culprits by conducting raids at many suspected hideouts," a statement issued by Manipur police said.
The police appealed to people not to believe in rumours. They said any circulation of "unfounded videos etc may be confirmed from the rumour-free number..."
The Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO) claimed there are many more videos similar to what went viral on July 19 and could come out anytime soon. The tribal students’ body alleged that two other young Kuki women were also murdered on May 4, the same day as the horrific naked parading incident.
"For instance, a video clip of Meira Paibis (members of women groups) pushing two Kuki girls in Imphal towards the men (Meitei mob) asking them to rape went viral and later on, both were killed," the KSO alleged in a statement on Saturday.
Talking about another incident of May 4, the organisation alleged, "two Kuki girls…from the Kangpokpi district were molested, raped and later, killed at their workplace at Konung Mamang, Imphal."
The KSO lamented that no action was taken against any of those involved in the two incidents. It demanded that the government book the culprits.
The organisation said cases, similar to the one involving July 19 viral video, are registered in various police stations but the state government allegedly concealed them. It said the government suspended internet for the fear that the videos of those incidents would resurface once the internet is restored.
More than 160 people have lost their lives, and several have been injured since ethnic violence broke out in the state 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.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mostly in the hill districts.
(With additional inputs from PTI)