The video showing two women being paraded in Manipur while naked drew “deep concern” from the Supreme Court on Thursday, and it requested information from the State and Central governments regarding the steps being taken to hold those responsible accountable.
This happened the day after a video of two Kuki-Zomi women being paraded naked by a group of men and subjected to sexual abuse became viral. More than two months ago, the tragedy occurred in Manipur, a country plagued by conflict.
Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta were informed of the concerns of a bench chaired by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud. The court further stated that it would give the administration time to act before stepping in if nothing is being done on the ground. Venkataramani and Mehta were required to be in court at the start of the proceedings by the SC.
As soon as the proceedings got underway, CJI Chandrachud informed the audience, “We requested you to be present because we are profoundly upset by the films that showed how those two ladies were paraded in Manipur that surfaced yesterday. As a court, we want to express our utmost worry about the situation.
“I believe that since this is unacceptable, it is time for the government to intervene and take action genuinely,” CJI told. “Using women as a tool for inflicting gender violence in intergroup conflict is profoundly troubling and simply unacceptable to the court. “It is the grossest of constitutional and human rights violations….We will give a little time to the government to act. Otherwise, we will take action if nothing is happening on the ground. We are conscious of the fact that the video which appeared yesterday is from May, but that makes no difference.” the Chief Justice further added.
“It doesn’t have to be a video of yesterday. It’s very, very deeply disturbing. What action has been taken since May to bring the perpetrators to book? And second, what action has been taken to ensure this is not repeated? Who knows, it may be isolated; it may not be separated. It may be a pattern” Chief Justice stated.
Referring to Women being the first casualty in conflicts, the CJJI noted, “Across history and the world, using women as an instrument to perpetrate violence in these situations happened, and at least in a constitutional democracy, this is unacceptable. We will dictate a short order. We will take it up in the Manipur matter.”
The SC bench then ordered “We have taken up the proceedings in the above petition by requesting the Attorney General and the Solicitor General to be present at 10.30 am. The court is deeply disturbed by the videos which have appeared in the media since yesterday on the perpetration of sexual violence and assault on a woman in Manipur. We believe that the court must be apprised of the steps taken by the government to hold the perpetrators accountable and ensure that such incidents are not repeated in the strife in Manipur”.
The SC bench then went on to dictate it’s order which said, “The visuals which have appeared in the media would indicate gross constitutional violations and infractions of human rights. Using women to perpetrate violence in a charged atmosphere is unacceptable in a constitutional democracy. We direct both the Union and the State governments to take immediate steps and apprise the court of what action has been taken.”
“The visuals which have appeared in the media would indicate gross constitutional violations and infractions of human rights. Using women to perpetrate violence in a charged atmosphere is unacceptable in a constitutional democracy. We direct both the Union and the State governments to take immediate steps and apprise the court of what action has been taken,” it read.
