#BreakingNews Public Outcry after Viral Video from Manipur, India of 2 Abused Women being Paraded by an Angry Group - Archbishop Dominic Lumon calls it "a complete collapse of humanity.”
A video, from early May went viral on July 19th, showing the brutality of clashes between the Kuki and Meitei communities. A complaint was filed with police for kidnapping, gang rape and murder after relatives of one of the two women in the video were reportedly killed. Indian Prime Minister Modi broke his silence on the atrocities. For the Archbishop of Imphal, this is “a complete collapse of humanity.” For those affected, “we have requested the Armed Forces to airdrop relief material.”
A video showing two women paraded naked, who were raped, in India’s north-eastern state of Manipur, has gone viral.
Since early May, the state has been torn by violent clashes, pitting mostly Christian Kuki against predominantly Hindu Meitei.
Last week, senior BJP politician R Vanramchhuanga resigned over his party’s failure to condemn violence against Christians.
In his resignation letter, dated 13th July, Mr Vanramchhuanga wrote that even though 357 churches and other buildings belonging to Christian organisations had been destroyed by Meitei militants in Manipur that BJP leaders from local and national governments had not spoken out against the targeting of Christians.
Christians belonging to the Meitei ethnic group were also targeted during the attacks.
Mr Vanramchhuanga, the former BJP vice president in Mizoram which neighbours Manipur, expressed the view that there was political support for the violence against religious and ethnic minority groups.
Archbishop Dominic Lumon of Imphal, capital of Manipur, calls what is taking place is "a complete collapse of humanity.”
“I was appalled and grieved when I learnt of this horrific incident when it became viral,” he said, speaking to AsiaNews. “It pained me. This brutal violence has been compounded by other violations unleashed on our women for the past nearly three months.”
At least 130 people have died since clashes broke out and more than 60,000 people have been displaced.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) reported:
“The gang rape of the women happened after the village was burnt down and two men – one middle-aged and another a teenager – were beaten to death by the mob," the ITLF said. One of the women, aged 21, was gang raped, according to the first information report (FIR) filed by the survivors. The police complaint says the other woman was 42.
According to police sources, at least one of the women was raped, and her father and brother were killed by the mob. The brother, 19, was probably killed trying to protect his sister.
The First Information Report (FIR) states that a crowd of about 900-1,000 people, some with sophisticated weapons, blocked police.
“It is very tragic that society is being divided along sectarian community lines,” Archbishop Lumon lamented. “Recently, a Naga woman was brutally killed”; instead, “we should hold women in the highest esteem.”
The suffering is even greater in camps for displaced people. Women and girls “have been uprooted from their homes, abandoned,” forced to leave “their communities, [. . .] fleeing for their lives. It is traumatic,” the prelate explained.
What is more, “in some places, relief material and medicines are in short supply. Besides, we are unable to carry relief items and medical supplies” since “we have to pass through other communities.” For this reason, “we have requested the Armed Forces to airdrop relief material.”
About the diocese : Diocese of Imphal, Manipur was established on 21st of April 1980 with Rt. Rev. Joseph Mittathany D.D. as its first Bishop under Pope John Paul II. It was later raised to the level of Archdiocese on 1st August 1996. Most Rev. Joseph Mittathany D.D was its first Archbishop. He was later succeeded by Most Rev. Dominic Lumon DD on 12th of July 2006.
Archdiocese of Imphal has 113 diocesan priests working in 53 parish centres, 44 High School, 26 Junior Schools, 13 Higher Secondary Schools, 4 Colleges, 6 NGOs, 13 Dispensaries and 1 Hospital for the people of Manipur. It has 101283 Catholic members and about 67,976 (2020 Survey Report) Students studying in various educational institutions run by the Archdiocese of Imphal, Manipur.
Sources: AID to the CHURCH in Need:
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