Accused Yumlembam Jiban Singh, in the case concerning the alleged stripping and public parading of three Kuki-Zo women during the 2023 Manipur ethnic violence, has approached the Supreme Court seeking bail, citing the slow pace of the trial despite repeated directions for its expeditious conclusion.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana heard the matter on November 3. Senior Advocate Shadan Farasat, appearing for Singh, submitted that the trial had made little progress despite several directions issued by the Supreme Court to ensure the examination of the victim-witnesses without delay.
Drawing the Court’s attention to its October 5 order, which required the prosecution to complete the examination of all three victims, Farasat submitted that only one victim had been fully examined so far. While the examination-in-chief of the third victim had been completed, her cross-examination was still pending.
Farasat highlighted that despite multiple orders issued since July, the progress in recording evidence remained inadequate.
“The trial is not proceeding. That’s the challenge,” he submitted.
Opposing the plea, Additional Solicitor General Raha Thakre, appearing for the prosecution, informed the Bench that the trial court had scheduled consecutive dates, October 13, 16, 18 and 19, for recording the evidence of the victims. He submitted that the examination-in-chief of the third victim had concluded and that her cross-examination would be undertaken on the scheduled dates.
However, Farasat pointed out that earlier attempts to conduct the proceedings on consecutive dates had also failed to yield results because of various difficulties, including the interpreter engaged in the proceedings contracting dengue.
Advocate DP Singh, also appearing for the prosecution, assured the Court that continuous dates had now been fixed to facilitate the completion of the examination of the witnesses.
Taking note of the submissions, the Bench recorded that only one of the three victims had been fully examined, while the cross-examination of another was still underway.
The Supreme Court directed the prosecution to ensure the presence of the third victim before the trial court on the scheduled dates so that her evidence could be recorded. Singh’s bail plea has been directed to be listed after the completion of the exercise.
The case arises from the horrific incident of May 4, 2023, when a mob allegedly stripped and paraded three women belonging to the Kuki-Zo community naked in Manipur’s Thoubal district amid the ethnic violence. Two of the women were allegedly gang-raped during the incident. The father and brother of one of the victims were also allegedly killed.
The incident triggered nationwide outrage after a video showing two of the women being paraded naked surfaced on social media in July 2023.
The Supreme Court had taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and transferred the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The trial was subsequently shifted to Guwahati.
Singh is accused of recording the video of the women being paraded and circulating it among other accused persons, resulting in its wider dissemination. He was arrested on July 20, 2023.
In January 2026, a special CBI court in Guwahati framed charges against six accused, including Singh. The charges include offences relating to murder, rape, gang rape and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The Supreme Court had previously directed the prosecution to ensure that the statements of all three victims were recorded expeditiously.
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