latest Manipur News
Manipur violence: CBI to probe 11 FIRs on crime against women
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the top court that the CBI will look into the 11 cases of crime against women in the northeastern state in connection to the ongoing ethnic violence.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will investigate all the 11 First Information Reports (FIRs) on crime against women in Manipur, the state government told the Supreme Court on Monday. The Centre’s counsel, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the top court that the CBI will look into the 11 cases of crime against women in the northeastern state in connection to the ongoing ethnic violence.
Earlier on Monday, Manipur DGP Rajiv Singh reached the Supreme Court after he was summoned in connection to the hearing on the batch of pleas in relation to the ethnic clashes. A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud had directed a summon to the apex court last Tuesday, after noting that there was an absolute breakdown of law and order and the machinery of the state.
Considering the current situation in the northeastern state of Manipur, the Supreme Court of India bench, including Justice JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mihra asserted that the investigation was so lethargic that no arrests were made. It added that this phenomenon gives an impression that there was no law and order in the state and that there is a complete breakdown of constitutional machinery. The three judge bench further added that maybe it is correct that the arrest could not take place as the police could not enter the locality mentioning that even then there was a complete breakdown of law and order.
In its ruling, the top court asserted that they are not in a situation where the state police can carry out an investigation and that there is a need for a mechanism. The apex court underlined that there is a need to be a mechanism to bifurcate all the 6500 FIRs as the central agency cannot be burdened with all 6500 which might result in the breakdown of the CBI mechanism as well.
India News
Students hold protest in Manipur after photos of two dead students surface online
The protesting students tried to march towards Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s residence
Hundreds of students took to the streets in Manipur’s capital, Imphal to protest against the brutal murder of two students by suspected armed men. The students demanded justice for the victims. According to reports, photos of two students, who apparently have been decapitated, have gone viral across the social media platforms.
The protesting students tried to march towards Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s residence, after which security forces used tear gas shells and smoke bombs in an effort to disperse the crowd. Reportedly, multiple students were injured and they were hurried to the hospital for medical treatment.
The photos that have gone viral show two students, a 17-year-old girl and a 20-year-old boy, sitting at the grassy compound in what appears to be a makeshift jungle camp of an armed group.The girl is seen in a white shirt and the boy in a checked shirt holding a backpack. Behind them, two armed men were clearly visible.
In the next viral photo, their bodies are seen slumped on the ground. According to reports, as the girl was a minor, officials concerned to the matter are looking into the allegations of rape, before she was murdered.
Meanwhile, N Biren Singh led Manipur government has asked the people of the northeastern state to exercise restraint and allow authorities to investigate the kidnapping and killing of both the students. In a statement issued by the secretariat of Chief Minister N Biren Singh late on Monday night, the state government asserted that the case has been already handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
In addition, the government also assured the public that swift and decisive action will be taken against all those involved in the crime. The statement further underlined that the government was committed to ensuring justice for the murdered students and severe punishment on any perpetrators found responsible for this heinous crime.
latest Manipur News
Manipur: Mobile internet services to be restored today, says CM N Biren Singh
Mobile internet services have been banned continuously for the past four-and-a-half months
In a major development, Chief Minister of Manipur N Biren Singh announced on Saturday morning that mobile internet services in the state would be restored from Saturday, nearly five months after they were banned in view of the communal violence that broke out in the state.
As far as reports are concerned, the internet services, both mobile internet and broadband, were banned in the northeastern state of Manipur on May 3, the day when the violence first broke out. The ban on internet services was first imposed for a period of five days and continued to be extended for five days at a time, underlining the law-and-order situation in the violence-hit state.
According to The Indian Express report, a member of Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s team stated that the decision has been relayed to the relevant teams and it is likely that mobile internet service will resume within a few hours. While mobile internet services, which is how most people access the internet, have been banned continuously for the past four-and-a-half months, broadband services had been conditionally restored following a government order on July 25.
During that time, while creating provisions for the restoration of broadband services, the order had stated that the suspension of mobile internet services would continue to be in place, mentioning that there are yet apprehensions that the spread of disinformation and false rumours through several social media platforms and sending bulk SMS, for facilitating and or/mobilization of mobs of agitators and demonstrations, which can cause loss of life and/or damage to public/private property.
In the last month, the Manipur High Court had also directed the state government led by N Biren Singh to devise a mechanism for facilitating internet services through mobile phones by whitelisting the mobile numbers on case-to-case basis and in a phase-wise manner.
India News
Manipur violence: Meitei women stage protest over gangrape of 37-year old woman
In protest against the harrowing incident, Meira Paibis, the collective of Meitei women staged sit-in demonstrations in Keisampat, Uripok and Singjamei areas in Imphal West district and Kongba and Khurai in Imphal East district, reports stated.
A collective of Meitei women, Meira Paibis on Friday carried out sit-in demonstrations across five districts of Imphal Valley in order to protest against the alleged gangrape of a 37-year-old woman in Churachandpur on May 3, when the ongoing ethnic violence erupted in the northeastern state.
According to reports, the survivor alleged that she was gang-raped by a group of men while fleeing from her burning house in Khumujamba Leikai in Churachandpur. Speaking on the matter, the police officials concerned said that an FIR was lodged with Bishnupur women police station on August 9 and then the matter was forwarded to Churachandpur police station for further investigation.
In protest against the harrowing incident, Meira Paibis, the collective of Meitei women staged sit-in demonstrations in Keisampat, Uripok and Singjamei areas in Imphal West district and Kongba and Khurai in Imphal East district, reports stated. Similar protests were also carried out in Bishnupur, Kakching and Thoubal districts.
The ethnic violence broke out in the northeastern state on May 3 and has been continuing for the past three months, claiming the lives of over 160 people and leaving thousands homeless. On Wednesday, a 37-year-old woman approached the police in Manipur’s Bishnupur with a complaint that she was sexually assaulted on 3 May in Churachandpur district. Reportedly, a zero FIR has now been lodged against the alleged sexual assault of the 37-year-old woman. As per the police officials, the matter has been transferred to the Churachandpur police station. Furthermore, the police have registered a case of gang rape, assault or criminal force to outrage the modesty of a woman with common intention against unknown Kuki miscreants.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech in Lok Sabha on Thursday said that both the Centre and the state are working together to restore peace in the violence-hit northeastern state. He added that he wants to assure the people of the northeast that the entire country is with them. He further expressed that northeast is a part of their hearts and Manipur will soon witness new development and confidence. On the other hand, the opposition has slammed the Prime Minister for speaking only a few minutes on Manipur violence.
