The Meghalaya State Commission for Women on Saturday urged the Centre and the Manipur government to take immediate action against those involved in the incident of two women being paraded naked in the ethnic strife-torn state.
The commission also appealed to authorities concerned in Manipur to ensure that all victims of the ethnic clash there are given the necessary help and rehabilitation.
“We urge the Centre and the Manipur government to take immediate action against those involved in the horrific act of human depravity that threatens the dignity and safety of every woman and child of the nation,” the commission said in a statement.
The women's commission in Meghalaya also said any attack on a woman's modesty is not acceptable in a democracy.
“We are saddened to see this gross violation of human rights, especially of minorities and the vulnerable,” it said.
The incident sparked nationwide outrage, and the Manipur Police have arrested the fifth accused in connection with the video that surfaced on July 19 showing two women being paraded naked by a mob in the strife-torn state.
The women's body expressed gratitude to the National Human Rights Commission and the Supreme Court for taking cognisance of the incident.
Observing that it was “deeply disturbed” by the video of two women being paraded naked in Manipur, the Supreme Court had on Thursday said that using women as instruments for perpetrating violence is “simply unacceptable in a constitutional democracy”.
Taking cognisance of the video, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud directed the Centre and the Manipur government to take immediate remedial, rehabilitative and preventive steps and apprise it of the action taken.
Manipur has been witnessing ethnic clashes since May 3 between the majority Meitei community, concentrated in the Imphal valley, and the tribal Kukis, occupying the hills.
More than 160 people have lost their lives, and several have been injured since ethnic violence broke out in the state early in May when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.