The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the delay in the registration of the first information report in the case of the sexual assault of three Kuki women in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district on May 4, Bar and Bench reported.

“What was the police doing for 14 days to register the FIR ?” Chief Justice DY Chandrachud asked. “Fourteen days for a zero FIR? Why?”

While first information reports are usually lodged in the police station under whose jurisdiction the alleged crime has taken place, a zero FIR lets any police station accept and register a complaint and then forward it to the pertinent station.

The court was on Monday hearing a petition filed by the two Kuki women who were paraded naked by a mob in the Kangpokpi district in May. A video of the incident was widely shared on social media on July 19.

Three women, including the two who were seen in the video, were sexually assaulted in B Phainom village of Kangpokpi on May 4, a day after clashes erupted between Meitei and Kuki communities. One of the women was “brutally gang-raped”, according to a police complaint.

The zero FIR in the case was registered on May 18. However, it was only after the video was shared on social media that arrests in the case were made.

The Supreme Court took cognisance of the incident on its own on July 20. It said that the incident was “simply unacceptable” and told the Centre and state government to take immediate steps in the matter.

On Monday, the court said that the violence against women in Manipur could not be ignored on the grounds that similar cases have been happening in other states, according to Live Law.

“Undoubtedly there are crimes which are taking place against women across the country – that is our social reality,” Chandrachud said. “But here, we are dealing with something which is of unprecedented magnitude, namely crimes and the perpetration of violence against women in a situation of communal and sectarian strife.”

Chief Justice Chandrachud further remarked: “Question is how do we deal with Manipur. Mention that...Are you saying protect all daughters of India or don’t protect anyone?”

The remarks by the chief justice came after Advocate Bansuri Swaraj urged the court to take cognisance of violence against women in West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, according to Bar and Bench.

Chief Justice Chandrachud also said that the sexual assault of May 4 could not be seen as an isolated offence, but was part of systemic violence. “In such case, is it not important that you [Manipur government] should have a specialised team?” the chief justice asked. “There is a need in the state of Manipur to have a healing touch. Because the violence is continuing unabated.”

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Manipur government, told the court that over 6,000 first information reports have been filed in connection with the violence across the state.

The court asked Mehta to state how many of these cases involve crimes against women, and how many pertain to serious offences such as murder and arson. The bench also asked whether the Central Bureau of Investigation was in a position to take over all the cases.

The petition will be heard further on Tuesday at 2 pm.

Manipur has been witnessing ethnic clashes between the Kuki and the majority Meitei communities since May 3. At least 181 people, including 113 Kukis and 62 Meiteis, have been killed and nearly 60,000 have been forced to flee their homes.

Opposition parties have held the Bharatiya Janata Party governments in Manipur and at the Centre responsible for failing to contain the violence. Their criticism was bolstered after a video showing two Kuki women being paraded naked was widely shared on social media on July 19.

The parties have also been demanding a statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the violence in Manipur in Parliament, followed by a longer discussion. However, the Modi-led government has agreed to a short-duration discussion.

Could not contact survivors due to resistance from local groups: Centre

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs, in an affidavit filed on July 28, told the Supreme Court that state authorities could not contact the survivors of the sexual assault either physically or telephonically due to “resistance from civil society organisations in Churachandpur”, The Indian Express reported.

The survivors and their families fled to the Churachandpur district after the incident of May 4, the Centre said.

The government, however, told the court that an all-women team of two psychiatrists and a psychologist from Churachandpur District Hospital has been set up to help the survivors.

The home ministry added that in order to ensure that such crimes do not recur, all such cases will have to be reported to the state director general of police, who will directly supervise the investigations.