Manipur: Two girls raped, murdered on May 4; FIR was filed, but no arrests

Another shocking incident of rape and murder in Manipur has come to light two and a half months after it was perpetrated.

According to media reports, two Kuki girls in their early twenties working at a carwash in the Meitei-dominated Konung Manang area of Imphal were allegedly raped and murdered on May 4, an hour after the widely-reported rape incident occurred, the video of which went viral on July 19.

The two victims were siblings and daughters of a pastor.

On hearing of the tragic incident from his elder daughter’s friend, a Meitei, the father of the two victims went to the morgue with a police officer. The doctor told him that his daughters had been raped and murdered. He then filed a complaint of rape and murder at the police station.

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The complaint was first filed as a “zero FIR” at the Saikul Police station in Kangpokpi district on May 16. A zero FIR can be filed at any police station and is used when a victim is unable to visit the police station under whose jurisdiction the crime occurred.

The first information report (FIR) stated that the mob entered the rented house where the girls were staying and committed the heinous crimes.

Though the FIR in this case was filed on May 16, no arrests have been made so far, according to police officers.

In the FIR, the father of the victims said he suspected the mob of around 100-200 to be members of Meitei youth organisations – Meetei Leepun, Kangleipak Kanba Lup (KKL), Arambai Tenggol, and World Meitei Council.

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These groups have been named in several complaints of violence in Manipur during the last two and a half months.

Members of the North American Manipur Tribal Association and two women activists sent a complaint to the National Commission of Women (NCW) on this Imphal incident on June 12.

NCW’s chairperson, Rekha Sharma, on Friday (July 21) said that she had written to the chief secretary and the director general of police of Manipur three times during the past three months, and had forwarded to them all the complaints she had received, which were six in all.

She said that since the complaints were from people who were not within the country, the commission had to verify the genuineness of the complaints. She therefore wrote to the state authorities, but she did not receive any response from them.

The bodies of the two victims are reported to be at a mortuary of the Jawahar Lal Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal.

This case was one of multiple cases mentioned in a statement on Thursday (July 20) by 10 Kuki legislators, who accused the authorities of not properly investigating several similar cases.

Also read: NCW says it asked Manipur govt about women-related violence, got no response

A member of the Kuki-Zo Unity Forum who has been helping the family of the two victims said that this case revealed why the community was protesting against the lack of investigation and action by the authorities. She said despite a complaint having been filed two months ago, there has been no action. The police were forced to act in the other case because of the viral video. But she said in most cases, there were no videos.

The legislators, in their statement, asked that the cases be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

There has been no response or comment from the Manipur state police chief Rajiv Singh.

(With agency inputs)