SIPHRO

Imphal, June 3, 2006: The National Commission for Women has reported that 25 women and girls, most of them minors, were raped, molested and assaulted by militants in Tipaimukh subdivision of Manipur’s Churachandpur district in January.

The panel has asked both the Centre and the Manipur government to provide a comprehensive rehabilitation package for the victims and continue deployment of security forces in the area.

The report was submitted to Governor S.S. Sidhu and chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh yesterday by commission member Malini Bhattacharya, a former Lok Sabha MP. A team led by her prepared the report after visiting Lungthulien and Parbing villages last month, where the alleged mass rape occurred.

The commission visited Tipaimukh after a judicial inquiry committee, headed by Justice S.P. Rajkhowa, was formed by the Ibobi Singh government. This move came in the wake of allegations that 21 Hmar women were raped by militants of the United National Liberation Front and the Kangleipak Communist Party.

Bhattacharya said the girls were still in a “traumatised and terrorised state”, which called for immediate medical attention and counselling. She reported that 18 armed militants raped 15 girls aged between 15 and 27 years on the night of January 16 at Lungthulien, forcing the villagers to flee to neighbouring Mizoram the next morning. Ten other girls were raped at Parbung before the Lungthulien incident. A boy, whose two sisters were sexually assaulted, was shot dead in bed on the night of January 16, she said.

“The commission will submit the report to the Centre very soon. We will also meet Union home minister Shivraj Patil and seek measures for the victims’ rehabilitation,” she added.

Source: Telegraph