Manipur Violence: Yet Another FIR On Rape, Murder Of Two Women

New Delhi: A zero FIR has been registered in connection with the alleged abduction, rape and murder of two Kuki-Zomi women just two days before a police complaint was filed in connection with the incident of two Manipuri women being stripped and paraded. The FIR was transferred to the relevant police station in Imphal East only after a month. Now, more than two months later, the family that filed the complaint told The Indian Express they don’t know if any headway has been made in the probe.

Police sources told The Indian Express no arrest has been made in this case so far. Director General of Police Rajiv Singh did not comment on the status of the investigation. Superintendent of Police, Imphal East, Shivakanta did not respond to calls and messages.

A zero FIR can be filed at any police station regardless of whether the offence was committed under its jurisdiction. In Manipur, several such FIRs were filed during the violence since families had either been displaced or their loved ones were injured or killed in areas far away from home.

On May 16, a zero FIR was registered over the death of two young Kuki-Zomi women, aged 21 and 24, at Saikul police station in their home district of Kangpokpi. The FIR, which was based on a complaint by the mother of the younger woman, was registered under sections of murder, rape and abduction. In the complaint, the mother had stated that the two young women, who worked at a car wash in Imphal East, had been “brutally murdered” in their rented accommodation on May 5 “after being raped and gruesome(ly) tortured by some unknown persons”, believed to be “about 100-200” in number, according to The Indian Express.

This FIR was transferred to the Porompat police station in Imphal East district only on June 13. Speaking to The Indian Express on Friday, a cousin of the 21-year-old said the family’s last correspondence with police in Imphal East was around two weeks after May 5, when photos of two bodies were sent to them by the cops, and the families identified them.

“We haven’t even received the post-mortem report,” the cousin was quoted as saying.

Notably, this particular case was also among incidents, which had been flagged to the National Commission for Women in a complaint by two activists and the North American Manipur Tribal Association on June 12, along with the incident from the viral video.