Punjab CM urges PM to take action against perpetrators in Manipur case

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday condemned the parading of two women naked in Manipur and appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure exemplary action against the perpetrators of the heinous crime.

Tension mounted in the hills of Manipur after a May 4 video surfaced on Wednesday showing two women from one of the warring communities being paraded naked by a few men from the other side.

In a tweet on Thursday, Mann said such incidents "cannot be tolerated in our society".

Seeking exemplary action in the matter, the Punjab chief minister, in a tweet in Hindi, said, "Attention needs to be given to the situation in Manipur which is deteriorating day by day."

The video was doing the rounds on the eve of a planned protest march announced by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) on Thursday to highlight their plight.

The Manipur Police on Thursday arrested one of the main accused who was seen in a May 4 video of two tribal women being paraded naked and molested by a mob at a village in Senapati district, officials said.

They said several police teams were formed immediately after the video of the incident surfaced.