Manipur violence: 'Deeply disturbed by videos of 2 women paraded naked'

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday said it was “deeply disturbed” by the video which has emerged in which two tribal women were seen paraded naked and molested, and asked the Centre and State to take action against the perpetrators.

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra said it was “simply unacceptable” and using women as an instrument in violence is unacceptable.

Taking suo motu cognisance of a video that emerged online yesterday, the bench asked the Centre and State to appraise the step taken on the issue. "Simply unacceptable. Using women as an instrument in an area of communal strife to inflict gender violence is deeply disturbing. This is the grossest of constitutional abuse and human rights violations. We are deeply disturbed by the videos which have emerged. If the government does not act, we will," CJI said.

The bench said it must be apprised of the steps taken by the governments so that perpetrators are booked for such violence and what steps are taken to prevent such incidents in future.The bench noted that the “video may be from the month of May, but that does not make any difference".

“What is portrayed in the media and visuals which appeared shows gross constitutional violation and infraction of human life using women as instruments of perpetrated violence is against constitutional democracy. Let Centre and State apprise court on steps taken," the top court ordered.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Central and Manipur government also condemned the incident, saying “This is unacceptable.”

"The government is also deeply concerned by the incident. Such incidents are completely unacceptable,” Mehta said.

The apex court then posted the matter to be listed on July 28. The top court has seized the cases relating to the violence in Manipur between Meitei and Kuki communities.