India’s Modi promises tough action on ‘shameful’ parading of naked women in Manipur

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condemned the alleged sexual assault of women in Manipur state as “shameful” and promised tough action, his first comments on ethnic clashes in the remote northeast which have killed at least 125 people.

A video showing the assaults triggered massive outrage and was widely shared on social media late on Wednesday despite the internet being largely blocked and journalists being locked out in the remote state. It shows two naked women surrounded by scores of young men who grope their genitals and drag them to a field.

“The guilty will not be spared. What has happened to the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,” Modi told reporters ahead of a parliamentary session on Thursday evening as he made his first public comments related to the Manipur conflict.

Without referring to the violence directly, Modi urged heads of state governments to ensure the safety of women and said the incident was “shameful for any civilised nation.”

“My heart is filled with pain and anger,” he said.

The ethnic violence depicted in the video was emblematic of the near-civil war in Manipur, where mobs rampaged through villages and torched houses, leaving more than 130 people dead since May.