The US is “shocked and horrified” by the video of an extreme attack on two women in Manipur and supports the Indian government's efforts to seek justice for them, a senior Biden administration official has said.
The video showing two women being paraded naked and molested by a group of men on May 4 in Kangpokpi district surfaced on July 19, attracting condemnation countrywide.
US shocked over Manipur violence
“We were shocked and horrified by the video of this extreme attack on two women in Manipur. We convey our profound sympathies to the survivors of this act of gender-based violence and support the Indian government's efforts to seek justice for them,” Vedant Patel, Deputy Spokesperson of the State Department, said at his daily news conference on Tuesday.
“We encourage a peaceful and inclusive resolution to the violence in Manipur and encourage authorities to respond to the humanitarian needs and protect the lives and property of all groups,” Patel said.
Modi says it has shamed 140 crore Indians
In his first public comments on the situation in Manipur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week expressed pain and anger over the incident, saying it has shamed 140 crore Indians and asserted that the guilty will not be spared even as the Congress termed his remarks “too little, too late”.
More than 160 people have lost their lives, and several have been injured since ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3, when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
The small Manipuri diaspora in the US has sought an immediate end to violence in the state and the imposition of the president's rule, which it said is important to restore law and order in Manipur.
Mob sets buses on fire
Meanwhile, two buses used by security forces to transport personnel were set on fire by a mob in Manipur's Kangpokpi district, officials said on Wednesday. No casualty was reported.The incident occurred at Sapormeina when the buses were coming from Dimapur on Tuesday evening.
A group of people belonging to one of the warring communities stopped the buses bearing Manipur registration numbers at Sapormeina and insisted that they would check if any member of the other community were on board, officials said.
Some of them set the buses on fire.
