Woman stripped and raped in Manipur speaks: Police were with the mob, they left us with those men

In the complaint, they had said that they had fled to a forest for shelter after their village in Kangpokpi district, was attacked by a mob and that they were later rescued by Thoubal police and were being taken to the police station, but were stopped on the way by a mob and seized from police custody around two kilometres away from the police station.

However, speaking to The Indian Express over the phone from her husband’s home, the younger woman alleged: “The police were there with the mob which was attacking our village. The police picked us up from near home, and took us a little away from the village and left us on the road with the mob. We were given to them by police.”

In their complaint, the victims had said that there were five of them who were there together: the two women seen in the video, another woman in her 50s who was also allegedly stripped, and the father and brother of the youngest woman, who they alleged were killed by the mob.

“After all the men were killed, and the mob did what they did, we were just left there and we escaped,” she said.

She said that she and her family have not been aware of the existence of a video capturing the incident, the circulation of which has sparked national outrage and prompted the state government and police to take action, two months after the FIR was filed.

“There is no internet here in Manipur, we wouldn’t know,” she said.

She said that while there were “too many” men who were part of the mob, she was able to recognise a few of them, including one who she said she had known to be a friend of her brother’s.

Following the outrage sparked by the video, on Thursday morning, the government confirmed the arrest of one person in connection with the incident. Police said on Thursday afternoon that the operation to arrest more of the perpetrators is ongoing.