“My head hangs in shame, not just Manipur…”: Kerala Governor on violence against women

Reacting to recent incidents of violence against women in Manipur and other states, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Sunday said that his head hangs in shame, adding that he is confident that law and order enforcement agencies will be working to bring the culprits to book.
“My head hangs in shame, not just Manipur, I do not have words to express my pain and anguish. How can somebody be so inhuman and brute to deal with women in such a manner”, the Kerala Governor said.
Further, putting confidence in the law and order enforcement agencies, Governor Khan said that they will be working overtime to create confidence among the women community.
“And I am certain in my mind that the law and order enforcement agencies will be working overtime to bring the culprits to the book and to create confidence among the people, particularly among women”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Manipur Police on Saturday arrested another accused in connection with a viral video which showed two women being paraded naked and sexually assaulted in Manipur.
Four others who were arrested on July 20 were remanded to 11-day police custody.
“This is the fifth arrest made so far in connection with the months-old video, which went viral days ago,” Manipur police said today.
All-out efforts are being taken to arrest the remaining culprits by conducting raids at many suspected hideouts, Manipur Police said in a tweet.
The first arrest in the case was made in the early hours of Thursday, hours after the video surfaced widely.
The incident allegedly took place on May 4, a day after ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur.
After a video of the same went viral, the police swung into action and arrested 4 people, including the main accused.
Taking suo motu cognisance of the video, Police on Thursday night said that a case of abduction, gang rape and murder was registered at Nongpok Sekmai police station in Thoubal district against unknown armed men and that all-out efforts were on to arrest the culprits at the earliest.
The two women are alleged to have been sexually assaulted before being set free by the mob comprising the majority community.
Reacting to the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he is pained over the incident and said the incident is “shameful for any civil society”.
“No accused will be spared, we will never forgive those who are behind this,” PM Modi said.
The violence in Manipur erupted after a rally by the All Tribal Students Union of Manipur (ATSUM) on May 3 in protest against the proposed inclusion of people belonging to the Meitei community in the list of Scheduled Tribes (STs).