Imphal: A Kargil war veteran’s wife was one of the two women paraded naked, molested, and groped by a mob of men in Manipur on May 4, a disturbing video of which surfaced on social media on July and triggered a storm of outrage across the country. The husband, a Ex-Army man who fought in the Kargil war rued that though he protected the country but failed to save his wife from being humiliated in such an inhumane manner.
Speaking to a Hindi news channel, the distressed husband who served as a Subedar in the Indian Army’s Assam Regiment said he felt dejected as he failed to save his home and his wife, even though valiantly defended the nation in the Kargil war.
‘Couldn’t protect her’
“I fought for the nation in the Kargil war and was also in Sri Lanka as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force. I protected the nation but am dejected that after my retirement, I could not protect my home, my wife and fellow villagers… I am sad, depressed,” he said, according to news agency PTI.
Narrating the horrifying events of the fateful day, the 65-year-old war hero said that on the morning of May 4, a mob arrived in their village, torched several houses in his locality, disrobed the two women—including his wife—and paraded them at gunpoint on the village roads in front of people.
‘Police stood by, did nothing’
He alleged that the shocking incident took place in full view of the police, who he claimed were present at the scene but did not take any action to stop the heinous act.
“Police were present but took no action. I want that all those people who burnt the houses and humiliated the women get exemplary punishment,” he said.
Made to strip, dance at gunpoint
Meanwhile, the army veteran’s 42-year-old wife, who underwent the nightmarish ordeal, is in a state of shock. Asked to narrate dreadful event of that day, the shattered woman breaks down and recounts the horror.
In an interview with the Times of India (TOI), the woman said three women were made to undress at gunpoint, but one of them was carrying a small child and was let go by the mob.
“We two women were made to strip at gunpoint in front of thousands of men in the mob in the open. They threatened to kill us if we did not shed our clothes. They made us dance, shoved us, and paraded us. They all behaved like wild animals,” the traumatized victim told TOI.
Her husband, the war veteran, says his wife is fighting a depression and struggling to take care of their kids as the horrific ordeal weighs heavily on her mind. “She went into a depression but with our children to care for, she is struggling to come back to normal. I have seen the war fighting in the front at Kargil. And when I have returned home, after my retirement, my own place is more dangerous than the battlefield,” he told TOI.
Mob burned houses, disrobed women
Recounting the horror, the ex-Army man said that on May 4, a mob of around thousand men descended upon their tiny hamlet of B Phainom and burned downed houses while villagers scampered to save their lives.
“My wife got separated from me and she and four other villagers hid behind a tree in the forest. Some of the attackers who were chasing our goats, pigs and chickens also entered the forest and found my wife and the others hiding there and captured them.”
“Besides my wife, there was a woman and baby and three members of one family (father, son and daughter). When they were brought out in the open they saw a waiting police vehicle and hopped into it but the mob overpowered the two policemen and dragged out my wife and the other four.”
The army man said he, along with other villagers who the attackers could find, were also yanked out of their hiding places and thrown on the village roads as they took some of the women, including his wife, and forced three of them to strip.
“I could see them taking my wife and the other four to a distance. The three women were forced to strip. One woman who was carrying a baby in her arms was later set free and allowed to go by some people in the mob who knew her. The mob was trying to molest the other younger woman and when her father and younger brother tried to protect them they were killed on the spot,” he said.
The Kargil war veteran who also fought in Sri Lanka as part of the Indian Peacekeeping Force there said the dreadful ordeal continued for around two to three hours before the mob decided to leave and villagers fled the scene.
Ordeal continued for hours
“It was about two to three hours this ordeal continued and when the mob dispersed all villagers fled the scene. We walked across the hills and at night I rejoined with my wife at a Naga village. The younger girl was taken away by her boyfriend. The next morning we started trekking with some villagers in our group that had a few pregnant women. Others went in different directions.”
As per the FIR registered in the case, the younger girl was taken to nearby paddy field and “brutally gang raped in broad daylight”, according to an OpIndia report. Police sources have, however, stated that the sexual assault is yet to be confirmed.
According to PTI, the younger victim seen in the video told a news portal that she was asked by the men to “lie down” in a field.
“Three men surrounded me…One of them told the other, ‘let’s rape her’, but…they didn’t,” she said. She added she was “lucky” they didn’t rape her, and added, “But they grabbed my breasts.”
Four people have been arrested in connection with the case on Thursday, a day after the video surfaced.
“The state police is making all-out efforts to arrest the other culprits at the earliest. Raids are continuing,” the Manipur Police said in a Twitter post.
More than 160 people have lost their lives, and several injured since ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3, when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
(With PTI inputs)
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