Indian Prime Minister breaks two-month silence on ethnic violence: "The guilty will not be spared"

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today broke a nearly two-month silence on deadly ethnic conflicts in northeast India and said the latest publicized case - the attack by a mob that stripped and abused women in Manipur state - was "inexcusable".

A video showing the attacks sparked widespread outrage and was shared widely on social media late last night even as the internet was largely blocked and journalists cut off from the remote Indian state. The video shows two naked women surrounded by dozens of young men who grab them by the genitals and drag them into a field.

"The culprits will not be spared. What happened to the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven," Modi told reporters in his first public remarks on the spate of attacks in Manipur.

Without mentioning the violence directly, Modi called on heads of state to ensure the safety of women and said the incident was "shameful to any civilized nation".

"My heart is filled with pain and anger," Modi said.

The ethnic violence depicted in the video is typical of the so-called civil war in Manipur, where rampant gangs are rampaging through villages and burning houses, and in these actions, 130 people have lost their lives since May.

The conflict was sparked by a claim by the Meiteis, a mainly Hindu group, for special status that would allow them to buy land in the mountains inhabited by Christian Kukis and other tribal groups and to get a share of government jobs, which the Kukis protested.

Clashes continued even as the army was deployed in Manipur, a state of 3,7 million people in the mountains on India's border with Myanmar, now divided into two ethnic zones. The two warring parties have formed armed militias, and gunfire is constantly heard in isolated villages. More than 60.000 people fled to overcrowded refugee camps.

The police said that the attack on the two women in the video happened on May 4, a day after the violence in that country began. According to the report submitted to the police only on May 18, the two women are from a family that was attacked by a gang that killed two of their relatives, and the report states that unknown perpetrators committed rape and murder.

Manipur state Prime Minister Biren Singh tweeted that the police had made the first arrest in the case, but did not say how many people were detained.

He said investigations are ongoing and will ensure that strict action is taken against all perpetrators, including the possibility of the death penalty.

"Let it be known that there is absolutely no place for such heinous acts in our society," Singh said.