In view of the horrific video in which two women were seen being paraded naked and subjected to sexual assault/violence by a mob amid the unrest in Manipur, the Supreme Court on Thursday took suo moto cognizance of the incident and asked the Centre and the state government to inform it of the steps taken to bring the perpetrators into law.
Chief Justice of India, Dr D Y Chandrachud, on Thursday sought the presence of the Attorney General of India, Venkatramani, and the Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, to address the deeply disturbing incident in Manipur.
The court expressed its profound concern over the video showing two women being paraded naked, using them as an instrument of communal strife, leading to gender violence, and branded it as the grossest human rights violation.
"We are very deeply disturbed by the videos which have emerged yesterday (19/07/23) about the two women who were paraded in Manipur. It is time that the government steps in and takes action," During the court session, the CJI said.
“Using women as instruments in an area of communal strife to inflict gender violence is deeply disturbing. This is the grossest of human rights violations,” the CJI said.
The CJI urged the government to take immediate action, warning that the Court would intervene if prompt measures were not taken.
"We will give a little time for the government to take action otherwise we will step in," the CJI warned after asking details of the action taken by the authorities since May to book the criminals.
CJI also asked what action was taken by the Government to ensure that such instances are not repeated. "Who knows whether it was isolated or if there is a pattern", CJI said.
CJI told the law officers that the court was taking note of this issue for consideration in the ongoing batch of cases concerning Manipur violence. The matter will be considered next Friday.
