Manipur: India's top court to monitor probe into sexual violence cases

THE Supreme Court of India on Monday (7) said it will monitor all cases related to violence against women committed during the sectarian clashes in the state of Manipur in the country's north-east since May 2.

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said it will appoint a retired senior police officer to oversee all charges of sexual violence to be investigated by the elite Central Bureau of Investigations, Reuters reported.

The chief justice said the retired officer will report back to the top court, the Reuters report added.

Last month, a video showing two women from the Kuki tribal community paraded naked and sexually assaulted by a mob caused a massive outrage across India and also abroad, forcing both prime minister Narendra Modi and the supreme court to speak out.

The women had mentioned in their police complaints that they were also gang-raped later.

Several other cases of women getting targeted during the violence have been reported. More than 180 people have been killed while several thousands have been rendered homeless in the state that border Myanmar to the east.

The top court, which took a strong stand on Manipur particularly after the video became viral on social media, also formed a committee including three retired women judges from three different high courts of India to look into the humanitarian issues that have emerged from the clashes in the state.

The clashes have broken out between the Meitei community, which constitutes 53 per cent of the population living in the more prosperous valley region of the state, and the Kukis who form 16 per cent of the population and live in the surrounding hill areas.