NEW DELHI: The Centre has told the Supreme Court that it has transferred the probe into "unfortunate and unacceptable" incident of sexual assault and violence on two women in ethnic violence-hit Manipur, to the CBI.
In an affidavit, Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla said the Union Home Ministry has been continuously monitoring the case since the incident came to light and seven persons have been arrested in the case.
Emphasising that its approach is zero tolerance towards any crimes against women, the Union government said it considered the offences like the present one to be too heinous which deserved to be taken not only with the seriousness it deserved but justice should be seen to be done so that it has a deterrent effect throughout the nation with respect to crimes against women.
It also asked the top court to transfer the trial in the case outside Manipur. The trial should be conducted in a time bound manner within six months after the filing of the chargesheet, it said.
After viral video of horrific incident came to light, the Supreme Court last week told the Attorney General and Solicitor General that the court was deeply disturbed. It also told the Centre and Manipur government either bring the perpetrators to book or else the judiciary will take action.
With regard to the incident, the Manipur government has arrested seven accused so far in the case.
In the written response, Bhalla said the government of Manipur has on July 26, 2023, has recommended Secretary, DOP&T for entrusting the case to CBI for further investigation, which has been duly recommended to Secretary, DOP&T by MHA vide letter dated July 27. The investigation shall thus, be transferred to CBI.
It also said, The approach of the central government is of zero tolerance towards any crimes against women.
Therefore, the central government makes a specific request that the entire case including trial of the offence in question, be ordered to be transferred by this Court to any State outside the State of Manipur, the response said.
As remedial measures, it said, the state government has formed District Psychological Support teams for providing mental health intervention at various relief camps through its order on May 18 and July 5, 2023.
"An all women team of 1 Sr Special (Psychiatrist), 1 Specialist (Psychiatry) and 1 Psychologist from District Hospital in Churachandpur was deputed to assist the victims. However, due to resistance from civil society organizations in Churachandpur, victims could not be approached by state authorities," it added.
In order to prevent repetition of such incidents, reporting of all such cases to the Director General of Police by the Police Station in-charge of the jurisdiction has been made mandatory, it said.
One senior Police Officer, of the rank of Superintendent of Police will monitor these investigations under the direct supervision of the Director General of Police (DGP). A suitable reward for reporting such incidents and for providing information leading to the arrest of the absconding culprits will also be given, the affidavit stated.
The Centre said to ensure prevention of such cases and maintenance of law and order in the state, it has, in addition to the existing companies, been providing additional companies of CAPFS with effect from 3 May 2023.
124 additional companies of CAPFS and 185 columns of Army/Assam Rifles are presently deployed in Manipur in addition to the local police. A Unified Command comprising representation from all the Security Forces and Civil Administration under the chairmanship of Security Advisor has been established. Focus laid on intelligence gathering in collaboration with the Civil Administration to prevent any such incident in future. 13,782 persons have already been detained/bound down for violating curfew, other laws etc," the affidavit added.
It also stated the large-scale violence broke out in the State of Manipur on May 03, 2023 after a Tribal Solidarity March undertaken by All Tribal Students Union Manipur (ATSUM) in opposition to the demand for inclusion of the Meitei community in the list of Scheduled Tribes.
"The call for this march led to a counter response by Meiteis. Thereafter large- scale violence broke out in the State of Manipur, and as a result of the violence, many residents of Manipur lost their lives and several others got seriously injured; their houses and properties were burnt down as a result of arson and many of them were rendered homeless. Moreover, incidents of violence and heinous crimes against women have come to light," it said.
The government also said the law and order is handled by State Government, however keeping in view the gravity of the incident and in order to ensure that the process of justice is expedited, it is keeping a close watch on the proceedings besides providing requisite assistance towards security.
"In addition, requisite steps towards speedy investigation, rehabilitation and remedial measures as well as entrusting the prosecution and trial by Fast-track Courts, have all been put in place. The Union Government is advised at the highest level to monitor the progress in the investigation and prosecution. Having regard to the escalations in inter-ethnic clashes and the need for interventions at various levels, the government is engaging itself on initiating several interventionist measures, both through mediatory and political process," it said.
