New Delhi, July 23 An exclusive survey conducted by India's leading poll agency CVoter reveals that an overwhelming majority of Indians want culprits like the ones who paraded women naked in public and gang-raped them in public in Manipur should be given the death penalty.
The question asked during the CVoter survey was: Some horrifying videos of brutality and gang-rape of women have come to the fore during the violence taking place in Manipur. According to you, should culprits of such acts get the death penalty? Overall, a huge majority of 87 per cent of the respondents answered in the affirmative while less than 4 per cent disagreed with the contention.
There is hardly any difference of opinion between respondents who support the NDA and those who support the opposition parties.
The stripping of the two women belonging to the Kuki tribe, their naked parading on streets and subsequent gang-rape in public occurred in the month of May. However, it is only recently that the horrific videos surfaced on social media and went viral. The viral videos have triggered nationwide anger and outrage.
The northeastern state has been gripped by uncontrolled violence since May 3. There were protests by members belonging to the Kuki tribe when the Manipur High Court ordered that the indigenous Meitei tribe be given the Scheduled Tribe status. The Supreme Court stayed the order and reprimanded the Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court.
The protests by members of the Kuki community soon spiralled into horrific violence as militant sections of both communities launched attacks on each other, attacked police posts and armouries and looted weapons.
Worse, women have been brutally assaulted and gang-raped, leading to nationwide outrage and anger. The Supreme Court has taken suo moto cognizance of the case and issued notices to the state and central governments. The monsoon session of Parliament has been disrupted over the issue. More than 115 people have lost their lives so far in the Manipur violence.
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