INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (20) called the alleged sexual assault of women in the northeastern state of Manipur "shameful", urging heads of state governments to ensure the safety of women.
Videos have surfaced on social media purporting to show two women paraded naked on a street in violence-hit Manipur after what townspeople on the videos say was a gang rape. Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the videos.
Modi said the incident had filled his heart with grief and anger. "Any civil society should be ashamed by it," he said ahead of a parliament session.
At least 80 people have been killed and more than 40,000 have fled their homes since clashes broke out in Manipur in early May between ethnic groups.
State police have made the first arrest in the case, Manipur chief minister Biren Singh said on Twitter, without specifying how many people were arrested.
"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," Singh said.
Meanwhile, India's highest court said it was deeply disturbed by the images and asked the government to inform the court of the steps taken to apprehend the perpetrators and ensure such incidents were not repeated.
"In a constitutional democracy it is unacceptable," said chief justice of India D Y Chandrachud.
He summoned both attorney general and solicitor general, the two topmost law officers of the government, to convey the court's concerns.
“We called you because the court is deeply disturbed by the visuals which have appeared in the media,” a three-judge bench headed by the chief justice said.
Chandrachud gave the centre and Manipur government an ultimatum to either bring the perpetrators to book or step aside for the judiciary to take action.
Taking suo motu cognisance of the video, the court said the visuals indicate “gross constitutional violations and infractions of human rights”.
The court listed the suo motu case for hearing on July 28.
(With inputs from Reuters)
A former Hertfordshire officer resigned before his misconduct ruling
‘Former Hertfordshire police officer made racist slurs against Asians'
A FORMER Hertfordshire police officer made racist comments to colleagues on multiple occasions, a misconduct panel has found.
PC Oliver Gobey, who resigned as an officer on the morning of the misconduct hearing, directed racist comments at people of Asian descent on two separate occasions.
In the first incident, he directed a “racially motivated” comment at a police sergeant to suggest they had been recruited after 9/11 because they were Asian.
Gobey was immediately challenged by PC Wallace, an “experienced officer” who had been a tutor constable for twenty years.
In a second incident, Gobey was in a police vehicle in Hitchin town centre with three colleagues. A man of Asian descent and his friends approached the officers and spoke to Wallace. The man said he was from Birmingham and asked for recommendations on places to visit.
After the man had walked away, Gobey said: “Or you have come down here to escape the honour-based violence you have caused.”Gobey was again challenged by Wallace. Gobey denied making the racist comments, but the panel concluded on the balance of probabilities that both incidents had taken place.
The panel’s report said: “They were discriminatory comments and they were his own. They were unprovoked. No one encouraged him.”
The panel also concluded that Gobey “chose to lie” about a business interest. He repeatedly failed to submit a proper application to continue part-time work for a private ambulance service and voluntary work for St John Ambulance, but continued with the latter regardless.
He also told a supervisor his business interest application had been successful, when it had not been.
In a fourth incident, Gobey “deliberately typed in random numbers” when assigned to work in the Resource Management Unit (RMU).
His figures, which were found to be wrong, came after Gobey “gave the impression to his colleagues that the work in RMY was ‘beneath’ him”.
While working there, he was heard “swearing about the work”. He was “short-tempered and ‘snappy’.” The panel’s report said: “The compilation of the figures … were far from being a simple administrative matter.
“It was essential operational information required by senior officers to decide how scarce resources would be deployed in the coming days.”
The panel found all the allegations against Gobey to be proven on the balance of probabilities, and concluded that they amounted to “serious gross misconduct” that would have led to him being sacked without notice if he had not resigned. He has also been added to the College of Policing barred list.
(Local Democracy Reporting Service)