The Indian government recently presented an affidavit to the Supreme Court in which it vowed to fight crimes against women with “zero tolerance” for such horrific deeds. The case under investigation is a widely shared video that shows two indigenous women in Manipur being raped and violently attacked. The Central government made the decision to delegate the inquiry into this occurrence to the Central Bureau of inquiry (CBI), an impartial investigative organisation, with the approval of the Manipur government.
The administration also explained the aggressive steps it has taken to apprehend the offenders. The identified individuals were sought after by many police teams who conducted massive operations at various places. The inquiry was also given to a police officer with the rank of extra superintendent, who was constantly watched over by other senior police officers.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) later approved the Manipur government’s recommendation to the Department of Personnel and Training (DOP&T), which led to the decision to send the matter to the CBI. The central government is of the opinion that such horrible crimes require not only the strictest punishment but also the public display of justice, which will serve as a deterrence to similar acts across the country.
The government informed the court that seven of the major suspects had already been arrested during the inquiry and were being held in police custody for further investigation. The Centre advised that the trial be held outside the state of Manipur and be finished in six months in light of the seriousness of the occurrence and to guarantee an impartial trial.
The Supreme Court had voiced extreme concern in reaction to the terrible footage and promised to punish those responsible. The court, which was composed of Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra in addition to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, called the occurrence “simply unacceptable” and emphasised that employing women as weapons of violence is a grave violation of both human dignity and constitutional rights.
“Unacceptable in a word. Gender violence committed by using women as a weapon in a setting of intergroup conflict is extremely unsettling. The most egregious constitutional and human rights breaches have occurred here. The recently released videos have left us quite uneasy. We shall take action if the administration does not,” CJI declared.
The bench asked the Central and State governments to inform the court of the actions taken to resolve the matter after taking suo motu notice of the internet video. The court emphasised the necessity for preventative steps to stop such situations in the future and ordered that the offenders be held accountable.
The Manipur conflict, which involves battles between the Meitei and Kuki groups, will be the subject of several petitions that the Supreme Court will consider. Since the matter has been brought before the court, it is committed to seeing that justice is done and that all forms of violence against women are eliminated.
