‘Fake news’ behind Manipur women’s abuse?

New Delhi, July 20

Fake news triggered the egregious act of women being paraded naked and their teen brother getting killed, sources in the Manipur Police said today.

The women paraded naked in Manipur were dragged away by a mob from police protection as ethnic violence flared up in the state in May, the sources said. The two women were part of a small group that had fled for safety towards the forest on May 4, when the ethnic strike escalated dramatically amid attacks and counter-attacks between two communities, the sources said. They further said a mob, believing a fake news item that women from their community had been raped, allegedly raided a village and chased the group. The group comprised two men and three women.