Manipur footage is "horrendous," and the Supreme Court does not want the state police to handle it. 



The Supreme Court further stated that it would like to know how many persons have been arrested so far and how many zero FIRs have been made in Manipur, emphasising that time was running out. "There is a great need for healing touch in the state," it stated.

The Supreme Court bench slammed the Manipur government and police, demanding to know why it took 14 days for the police to record a zero FIR after the event on May 4. "What did the cops do from May 4 to May 18?" The event revealed that women were displayed naked, and at least two were raped. "What were the cops doing?" the court inquired.

The viral video from Manipur's Thoubal district, which showed two women being paraded naked by a mob and caused a national outcry, was described as "horrendous" by the Supreme Court on Monday. The top court further stated that it did not want the Manipur Police to handle the viral video issue.

The Supreme Court described it as "horrendous" in reference to claims that the police in Manipur turned over ladies who were shown in the video to the riotous throng. The bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud declared, "Women shown in Manipur video were handed over to rioting crowd by police, this is horrendous."

Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General, responds that the government has nothing to conceal. "This court can monitor the situation," he explained.

CJI DY Chandrachud also stated that the Manipur incidence was not the same as the Nirbhaya episode. "...this is not a situation like Nirbhaya, where one rape occurred - which was also horrifying, but it was isolated." We're dealing with systematic violence here, which the IPC classifies as a different offence."

The court questioned the Centre on how many of the roughly 6,000 FIRs that had been lodged since the unrest in Manipur began were for crimes against women. The Centre said that it did not divide up these instances. The Centre and the Manipur administration were then ordered by the Supreme Court to return the next day with information on six points:

1.   Break-up of cases

2.   How many zero FIRs

3.   How many transferred to the police station that has jurisdiction

4.   How many arrested so far

5.   Status of legal aid to the arrested accused

6.   How many Section 164 statements recorded so far