Another man has been arrested in connection with the horrific case of two women being paraded naked in Manipur, Chief Minister N Biren Singh said this evening amid nationwide outrage.
The police said two others have been arrested as well. One of the alleged perpetrators was arrested this morning, the state police said. The 32-year-old man, identified as Huirem Heradas Singh, was arrested from Thoubal district after the video of the women went viral. In the video, the man, dressed in a green T-shirt, was seen dragging one of the women.
The arrests came amid widespread condemnation of the police, in view of the huge gap between the crime and the surfacing of the video. Very little headway was made in the case in the 70-plus days.
“After seeing the video, we took a decision to condemn the heinous crime and we term it a crime against humanity… Further investigation is going on and those who are involved will also be arrested and booked as per the law of the land,” said the Chief Minister, who has declared that the state will seek death penalty for the perpetrators.
“I want to appeal that this should be the last crime against women, sisters and elders. We should respect our sisters mothers and elders,” he added.
This evening, locals set ablaze the house of Huerim Heradas Singh – a development that was opposed by the women of the area. The video of that was also widely circulated.
“What the people in the viral video has done is highly condemnable. All the mothers and women are against such acts perpetuated on anyone, irrespective of race and community — be it Kukis, Meiteis or Muslims. The mothers highly condemn such acts that degrade women. The government of the day should award exemplary punishment to prevent such act from happening,” said one of the local women.