The Supreme Court on Friday transferred 17 violence cases related to the ethnic clashes in Manipur being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation to Assam and asked the chief justice of the Gauhati High Court to to assign one or more judicial officers to deal with them, reported PTI.
Among the cases is the sexual assault of Kuki women who were paraded naked by a mob in the Kangpokpi district. The video of the assault was widely shared on social media on July 19.
Three women were sexually assaulted in Kangpokpi on May 4. One of them was “brutally gang-raped”, according to a police complaint.
On Friday, a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra passed a slew of directions, including virtually examining the victims and witnesses. The court said that the directions have been issued “at the present stage, bearing in mind the overall environment in Manipur and the need for ensuring a fair process of criminal justice administration”.
The order to transfer the cases to Assam came despite opposition from many lawyers representing the victims and tribal groups. Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves argued that the trials should take place in the jurisdictional areas where the offences took place, arguing that the…
Read more