Manipur: ‘Mob Justice’ force women to take to the streets

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TNT News Desk | October 14, 2018

The prevalence of mob justice in India as a whole and Northeast India in particular has claimed many lives and destroyed numerous families. and while the law seems to be trying its best to curb this practise, the same continues to leave many houses and families in tatters.

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Manipur is one among many states in the Northeast of India that has been witnessing torch light processions in the valley districts, with mostly women marchers demanding among other things an end to mob violence directed at those accused of crimes.

The Hindu reports that over the last few years, at least three persons in Manipur, and two in neighbouring Nagaland, have been victims of mob lynchings.

A. Romenkumar, a retired IPS officer who is now a high court lawyer, told The Hindu that mob violence had reached even into court precincts. He referred to increasing incidents of persons accused of rape or murder and other heinous crimes being thrashed in the court premises, acts which he said amounted to contempt of court.

"Adequate security measures should be taken so that the potential trouble makers are not allowed inside the court compound," he added.

Chief Minister N. Biren, who also holds the Home portfolio, had recently said that the State government had set up a fast track court keeping in mind "the gravity of the issue." The aim was to ensure that persons accused of rape-cum-murder were convicted within a few months. He cited the case of a tribal youth in Manipur's Senapati district, who had been convicted in July for raping and murdering a young girl and sentenced to death.