Reckoning in Manipur

Crimes by mobs highlight deep institutional failures

The disturbing video that emerged on social media of the assault on Kuki-Zomi women by a mob in Manipur in May highlights the reprehensible failure of state institutions to respond urgently and impartially to law and order problems. It was only after the video surfaced on July 19 that the police arrested and charged six people identified in the video with abduction, gang rape, and murder. The police are yet to explain why it took a viral video, circulating 77 days after the incident was registered in a first information report, for them to be galvanised into action. Even given