SW News: The United States said on Sunday that it was extremely concerned over reports of viral videos showing two women being paraded naked in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur and that it was expressing its sympathy to the victims.

The sexual assault case that outraged the nation happened more than two months ago, but it just came to national and international notice in the past week as a result of the footage becoming viral on social media. Some arrests have been made by police. The mob allegedly raped and paraded the naked women.

The incident was described as "brutal" and "terrible" by a representative for the US State Department. The victims, who were aged 21 and 19, reported the assault in May, at a time of significant interethnic conflict between the tribal Kuki people and the majority ethnic Meitei over possible modifications to the economic benefits provided to the Kukis.

The unrest was put under control after New Delhi sent tens of thousands of paramilitary and army forces to the state having a population of 3.2 million. Violence returned soon after and since then the state has remained tense.
At least 125 people have died and more than 40,000 have fled their homes since the violence in Manipur began. The state department spokeswoman said the United States supported a peaceful, all-inclusive resolution to the violence in the state and urged the authorities to address humanitarian needs while safeguarding all groups, homes, and places of worship.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to the assault as shameful and pledged to take decisive action on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Manipur government has been urged by the National Human Rights Commission to put an end to violence and violations of human rights, while also requesting information from state officials on the actions taken, reports, and victim rehabilitation.

The NHRC has sought the Action Taken Reports from the state government. In a statement released late on Tuesday, it said it is crucial to understand what steps have been made by the relevant authority in the sequence of incidents that have continued to occur for a significant amount of time.