A video that has surfaced on social media showing a man’s body being burnt in a trench in crisis-hit Manipur is from May 4, the state government said on Monday.
The seven-second video, which was being circulated on social media platforms on Sunday, shows a man wearing a black t-shirt and camouflage trousers lying in a trench. His face had been bludgeoned and his body was on fire. The person has been identified as Laldinthanga, Manipur chief minister’s Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh told reporters on Monday.
Kangpokpi Superintendent of Police Manoj Prabhakar told Scroll that the man belonged to the Kuki-Zo community.
The incident took place in Haokhongching village under the jurisdiction of Nongpok Sekmai police station. According to Prabhakar, a zero FIR was registered in the case.
Singh said that the director general of police has recommended that the case be referred to the Central Bureau of Investigation as it is “a sequel to the video of the women being paraded naked”.
On July 19, a video of two Kuki women being paraded naked by a mob emerged on social media. The video showed scores of young men walking alongside as other men dragged the distressed-looking women into the fields. The police have arrested nine people in the case.
Manipur is under an internet shutdown till October 11.
The Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state had first shut down both broadband and mobile internet services in the wake of ethnic violence between the Meiteis and the Kukis that broke out on May 3.
On July 25, the government conditionally lifted the ban on broadband internet services. The authorities allowed for internet to be provided through Internet Lease Lines, used typically by businesses, and Fibre to the Home connections, which are more expensive to install than traditional broadband ones.
The ban on mobile internet was lifted briefly on September 23, only to be reimposed on September 26 after over 40 students were injured in protests against the killing of two Meitei teenagers who went missing in July.
Over 200 people have been killed since the conflict broke out in Manipur in early May. Nearly 60,000 persons have been forced to flee their homes. The state has reported cases of rape and murder, and mobs have looted police armoury and set several homes on fire despite the heavy presence of central security forces.
Also read:‘I have thought of taking my life’: A Meitei woman recalls how she was raped by a mob
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