Manipur women paraded naked, gangraped: A timeline of how the horror unfolded

The video of two women being paraded naked at B Phainom village in Manipur's Kangpokpi district has shocked the nation. Four people accused of being involved in the incident have been arrested so far. On Friday morning, homes of two of the accused were set on fire by groups of women. Meanwhile, the Monsoon Session of Parliament has witnessed massive disruption as the Opposition sought to corner the government on the issue. Protests have broken out in Manipur as well as in Delhi with calls for Chief Minister N Biren Singh to resign. Singh, however, has stayed put, saying his job is to bring peace to the region. 

The first arrest in the case -- that of Huirem Herodas Singh -- came 77 days after the incident took place on May 4, a day after ethnic clashes broke out in the state. The violence as well as the government's allegedly slow response to the sequence of events in the northeastern state has raised several questions. Here is a brief timeline of how the Manipur horror unfolded: 

A timeline of how the horror unfolded

May 3: Ethnic clashes erupted in Manipur against a Manipur High Court order to the state government on the inclusion of Meitis in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category which would allow them to purchase land in hill areas. Meiteis constitute 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Kukis and Nagas, account for 40 per cent and reside mostly in the hill districts. 

May 4: A mob of around 900-1,000 people torched B Phainom village, killed two villagers and then carried out sexual assault of three women who were paraded naked, molested and at least one of them gang-raped by the mob.

May 18: A complaint was registered by the village chief at Saikul police station on May 18 claiming that three women were physically forced to remove their clothes and were stripped naked in front of the mob. The complainant alleged that about 900 to 1,000 unidentified miscreants carrying sophisticated weapons entered his village and set houses on fire after looting their moveable properties and cash.

The complaint said five villagers - two men and three women, who feared loss of life had fled to the forest and were rescued by a police team. But on the way back to the police station the mob blocked their way and snatched the villagers from the custody of the police team. The two men were murdered and the three women were sexually assaulted.

June 21: A case of abduction, gang rape and murder has been registered against unidentified armed persons. Sections 153A, 398, 427, 436, 448, 302, 354, 364, 326, 376, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were provoked in the case apart from Section 25(1C) of the Arms Act.

July 19: The shocking video of women being paraded naked went viral on social media platforms invoking national outrage. 

July 20: Four miscreants, including main accused Huirem Herodas Singh, were arrested by police in connection with the incident. Huirem was seen prominently directing the mob at B Phainom village. His house was set ablaze by angry locals.

Main accused of Manipur incident

July 21: The four accused were remanded to 11-day police custody on Friday, police said.

Manipur Horror: Activists flagged it over a month ago to NCW along with 5 other cases

More than a month before the shocking video of sexual assault video went viral, activists had informed the National Commission of Women (NCW) about the horrific crime as well as five other brutal instances. 

In a letter to NCW chief Rekha Sharma on June 12, two activists who had visited the state and the North American Manipur Tribal Association claimed that there was "numbing silence" and under-reporting of sexual and gender-based violence.

Sharma confirmed to PTI about receiving the complaint from the activists. "We had to verify the authenticity. And also the complaints were not from Manipur, some were not even from India. We reached out to authorities but no response was received from them but then we took suo motu cognisance when the video (of women being paraded naked) went viral," she said. 

The activists had appealed to NCW to take actual action in the six incidents of violence against women. The happenings were listed based on testimonies of survivors and victims of physical and sexual assaults and rapes shared with the activists.