A group of women in a village called Huirem Herodas Meitei set fire to the house of the main suspect in the Manipur sexual assault video case, shortly after he was arrested. The main suspect, Herodas, is 32 years old and lives in Pechi Awang Leikai village. He is one of four people who were arrested for the incident that happened on May 4 in Thoubal district, Manipur. The crime involved the public humiliation and sexual assault of two women from the Kuki-Zomi community. The identities of the other three suspects have not been revealed yet.
When the women of Petchi village heard about Herodas’ arrest, they gathered together and went to his house. They vandalized his house and eventually set it on fire. A leader of a women-led activist group called Meira Paibi expressed disapproval and said that it is not acceptable for a woman to harm another woman’s dignity. The presence of such a person in our society is intolerable and brings shame to the entire Meitei community. Meira Paibis are known as “women torch bearers” and they have no strict hierarchy or political affiliations.
The incident happened over two months ago, but it gained national attention when a short video of it circulated on social media this week. This caused a lot of outrage. Chief Minister N Biren Singh faced pressure from the public and calls for resignation. He explained that the police action was delayed because it was difficult to identify the culprits among the many FIRs filed during the ongoing violence. However, after the video came out and the culprits were identified, immediate action was taken and two people, including the main perpetrator, were arrested.
