Iconic human rights activist Irom Sharmila, who didn't eat for 16 years in protest against alleged army atrocities in Manipur, today said the accused in the horrific incident of two women being paraded naked in Manipur must be punished with life imprisonment without parole.
Ms Sharmila said she felt "sorry and sad" about what's happening in Manipur, and claimed it wouldn't have happened had the Centre intervened "at the right time".
"I feel numb and disturbed," she told NDTV, adding that it isn't about any particular community, but an "inhuman" incident.
Calls for a detailed discussion on Manipur, amid the horrific video of two women being paraded naked on a road by a group of men in Manipur going viral, led to ruckus in both houses of the parliament and repeated adjournments.
The video has drawn massive condemnation and calls for action. The two women were gang-raped in a field, a tribal organisation has alleged.
Four men have been arrested in the case so far.
The women paraded naked were "left to the mob by the police", one of the victims has alleged in an interview to the Indian Express.
In a police complaint on May 18, the victims alleged that the younger of the two women was "brutally gang-raped in the broad daylight", the newspaper said.
One of the alleged perpetrators was arrested Thursday morning, the state police said. The 32-year-old man, identified as Huirem Heradas Singh, was arrested from Thoubal district after the video of the women went viral. In the video, the man, dressed in a green T-shirt, was seen dragging one of the women.
The arrests came amid widespread condemnation of the police, in view of the huge gap between the crime and the surfacing of the video. Very little headway was made in the 70-plus days since the case was filed.
Congress Does Not Want Manipur Like Situation In Tripura: Gaurav Gogoi Meitei Alliance Condemns Killing Of CRPF Soldier By "Suspected Kuki Insurgents" In Manipur's Jiribam Bag Packed, Clothes Folded: CRPF Soldier Killed In Manipur In Attack By "Suspected Kuki Insurgents" Was Set To Go Home On Leave Windows Systems Restarting, Throwing Blue Screen Of Death Due To This Error Microsoft Windows Outage: How To Resolve Dreaded 'Blue Screen Of Death' Bilkis Bano Convicts' Bail Pleas Dismissed. What Supreme Court Said Flights, Markets, Banks, Stock Exchange: Microsoft Outage Crippling Sectors Dosa Truck, Waffle Truck, Biryani And Cakes: How Priyanka Chopra Celebrated Her 42nd Birthday Microsoft Windows Outage: How To Resolve Dreaded 'Blue Screen Of Death' Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.