Mother of rape-murder victim in Manipur speaks: 'Was asked if I wanted her dead or alive'

Days after the horrific video of two tribal women shocked the nation, the mother of another girl - who was also allegedly raped and murdered - has shared some chilling details of what happened after the May 4 violence in Manipur's Kangpokpi. Two tribal women from the Kangpokpi area were paraded naked and one of them was allegedly raped by a mob on May 4, just a day after the violence started in Manipur.

The same day, two other women, aged 21 and 24, from the same village were allegedly abducted, gang-raped, and murdered by a mob. The women used to work at a car wash facility in Imphal. Following the incident, a complaint was filed by the mother of one of the victims at the Saikul Police Station on May 5, but the FIR was registered by the police on May 16, India Today reported on Tuesday.

Speaking to India Today, the mother of one of the victims said that before the conflict, her daughter used to work at a car wash facility to support her siblings. She used to live in a rented apartment with another woman, from the same village. However, a day after the clashes started in the state, the victim's mother was unable to contact her daughter.

The mother said that when the violence started, she got worried so she repeatedly kept calling her daughter. "However, she didn't pick up. Later, a Meitei woman answered the phone and asked me if I wanted my daughter alive or dead. She then hung up the phone," the victim's mother told India Today, adding that after that, the family knew the two had been killed.

When asked how she got to know about what had happened to her daughter, the mother said that she did not know about the details until later. "We haven't received any information about the case from the police or any other authorities," she said.

India Today accessed the copy of the FIR, which revealed that the miscreants, allegedly members of various organisations, including the Meitei Youth Organisation, were booked under various sections of the IPC, including 302 (murder), 375 (rape), and 366 (kidnapping).

The victim's mother said that after she received the news of her daughter's death, their village was attacked and burned. Her family had to flee to the forest and then started living in a relief camp, the report said. She also said that the victim's father was now in critical condition at a hospital and that the family hadn't received the mortal remains of their daughter yet.

Earlier, one of the women who was paraded naked alleged that the police were with the mob when their village was attacked. According to the complaint which was filed on May 18, the victims had alleged that one of the two women, who is in her 20s, was "brutally gang raped in broad daylight".

In the complaint, they said that they had fled to a forest after their village in Kangpokpi was attacked by a mob and they were later rescued by the Thoubal police. They were being taken to the police station, but were stopped on the way by a mob. 

The woman claimed that the police were there with the mob when they attacked their village and that the cops left them on the road with the mob. "The police picked us up from near home and took us a little away from the village, and left us on the road with the mob. We were given to them by police," she said while speaking to The Indian Express.

The Manipur Police have so far arrested seven persons including the mastermind of the incident on May 4.