A GROUP of female activists stripped before Indian troops outside a security office in far eastern Imphal city to demand action over the killing of a woman allegedly by paramilitary troops, a report said. "Rape us, kill us, take our flesh," the activists screamed after trying to storm the headquarters of the Assam Rifles anti-terrorism unit in Imphal, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency quoted officials as saying.
The women were defying a ban imposed in Imphal, capital of far eastern Manipur state, on protests linked to the July 10 killing of the 30-year-old woman allegedly by Assam Rifles soldiers, the officials said. A number of the female protesters took off their clothes while others fainted in the demonstration to demand those responsible be brought to justice, PTI reported.
| "Damn, Mukkerjee! Lookit them honkers!" |
Manipur has been in turmoil since July 10, when troops identified the woman as an insurgent and said she had died in a gunbattle in the troubled state. Some 26 non-government organisations called a 48-hour general strike on Tuesday to protest over the woman’s death, which prompted state authorities to impose a ban on protests as a precaution against violence. The Assam Rifles unit wields enormous power to combat insurgent groups in six of India’s seven far eastern states, and non-government organisations in Manipur have been demanding some military law provisions be scrapped, arguing they are used to harass citizens. |