Akshay, Urmila express shock over May 4 video of Manipur

Mumbai: Actors Akshay Kumar and Urmila Matondkar on Thursday expressed shock over a May 4 video of two women being paraded naked in strife-hit Manipur and demanded punishment for the perpetrators of the "horrifying" incident.

Tension mounted in the hills of Manipur after the video surfaced on Wednesday. It was doing the rounds on the eve of a planned protest march announced by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) on Thursday to highlight their plight.

The Northeastern state has been seeing ethnic violence since May 3 and several fatalities have been reported.

Akshay said he is "shaken and disgusted" to see the video of violence against women in Manipur.

"I hope the culprits get such a harsh punishment that no one ever thinks of doing a horrifying thing like this again," the actor wrote on ‘Twitter’.

Urmila, who joined the Shiv Sena in 2020, said it was shocking how "no action" was taken by the authorities in an incident that took place in May.

"Shocked, shaken, horrified at Manipur video and the fact that it’s happened in May with no action on it. Shame on those sitting on their high horses drunk with power, jokers in media boot licking them, celebrities who are silent. When did we reach here dear Bharatiyas/Indians?" she tweeted.

"Stop asking why he’s quiet. Surely, you don’t expect the very people who caused the strife to speak/act against it," composer Vishal Dadlani wrote on the microblogging site.

Police said a case of abduction, gangrape and murder has been registered at Nongpok Sekmai police station in Thoubal district against unknown armed miscreants. In a statement, they said an all-out effort is on to arrest the culprits at the earliest.

Addressing the Parliament ahead of the Monsoon Session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said law will act with its full might on the incident of women being paraded naked in Manipur.

The Supreme Court directed Centre and Manipur government to take immediate steps and apprise it on what action has been taken on the video.

Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal said she will write to the prime minister and Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, demanding strict action in the case of two women paraded naked by some men in the ethnic violence-hit state.