Two women are paraded naked in the street ‘and gang-raped’ by mob sparking furious protests as Modi says attack has ‘shamed India’

• Video shows two women being paraded naked along a street while being groped
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condemned attack in Manipur as ‘shameful’ 

Two women were paraded naked along a street while being sexually assaulted before they were allegedly gang-raped by a mob in a field, sparking furious protests in India.

Harrowing video shows the two naked women being dragged down a road in Manipur state, northeast India, while young men grope their genitals as the victims try to pull away from their clawing hands.

The attack sparked angry protests in New Delhi today, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the brutal assault has ‘shamed India’.

‘The guilty will not be spared. What has happened to the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,’ Modi said in his first comments on ethnic clashes in the remote state that is ruled by his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. 

‘My heart is filled with pain and anger. The incident from Manipur that has come to the fore is shameful for any civilised nation,’ he said, as he urged chief ministers or call states to strengthen law enforcement. 

The remote state of Manipur has been in the grips of a near-civil war since May, which has left 130 dead and seen mobs rampage through villages killing people and torching houses.

Harrowing video shows the two naked women being dragged down a road in Manipur state, northeast India, while young men grope their genitals as the victims try to pull away from their clawing hands. Pictured: A video grab from the footage showing the mob of men

Members of the All India Mahila (AIMC) Congress shout slogans during a protest over sexual violence against women and for peace in the ongoing ethnic violence in India’s north-eastern state of Manipur, in New Delhi on Thursday

The attack sparked angry protests in New Delhi today (pictured), with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the brutal assault has ‘shamed India’

‘The guilty will not be spared. What has happened to the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,’ Modi said today (pictured)

In the latest violence, the two women were paraded through their street after a mob of men ripped off their clothes and began groping their bodies. The terrified women were seen being led into a field by the mob where they were gang-raped, according to locals. 

A preliminary probe showed that the assault on the two women took place on May 4 but videos of them being dragged, groped and paraded naked by armed miscreants went viral on Wednesday, police said. 

The two victims were part of a family who were attacked by a mob that killed its two male members, according to a police complaint that alleges rape and murder by ‘unknown miscreants’.

The state police have made the first arrest in the case, Manipur’s Chief Minister Biren Singh said on Twitter, without specifying the number of people who were apprehended.

‘A thorough investigation is currently underway and we will ensure strict action is taken against all the perpetrators, including considering the possibility of capital punishment. Let it be known, there is absolutely no place for such heinous acts in our society,’ Singh said.

India’s Supreme Court, meanwhile, expressed its concern over the assault and asked the government to inform the court about the steps it has taken to apprehend the accused.

‘In a constitutional democracy it is unacceptable. If the government does not act, we will,’ Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said.

Policemen detain a member of the youth wing of India’s Congress party during a protest over the deadly ethnic clashes in Manipur on Thursday 

Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard to enforce curfew in Imphal, capital of the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, on Monday

The shell of a burnt houses stands following ethnic clashes and rioting in Sugnu, in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, on Wednesday 

The two women are now safe in a refugee camp.

They are from the Kuki-Zo community, according to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, a tribal organization in Manipur.

Ethnic violence in the state was sparked in May by an affirmative action controversy in which Christian Kukis protested a demand from the mostly Hindu Meiteis for a special status that would let them buy land in the hills populated by Kukis and other tribal groups and get a share of government jobs.

The clashes have persisted despite the army’s presence in Manipur, a state of 3.7 million people tucked in the mountains on India’s border with Myanmar that is now divided in two ethnic zones. 

The two warring factions have also formed armed militias, and isolated villages are still raked with gunfire. More than 60,000 people have fled to packed relief camps.

India’s Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani called the attack on the two women ‘condemnable and downright inhuman.’ She said Thursday that investigations were underway and that ‘no effort will be spared to bring perpetrators to justice.’

India’s main opposition Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge, however, accused the ruling Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party of ‘turning democracy and the rule of law into mobocracy.’

Kharge said Modi should speak about Manipur in Parliament, a demand that has been made by other opposition parties and rights activists.

‘India will never forgive your silence,’ he wrote on Twitter.

Last week the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on Indian authorities to take action to stop the violence in Manipur and protect religious minorities, especially Christians. India’s foreign ministry condemned the resolution, describing it as ‘interference’ in its internal affairs.

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