A video of two women forced to parade naked in northeastern India, a country affected for months by a wave of ethnic violence that has left more than a hundred dead, sparked outrage on Thursday.

The video, which began circulating on social media on Wednesday, shows the two naked women on a road surrounded by dozens of men, some of them armed with sticks.. The images were recorded in the state of Manipur.

“The guilty will not be spared. The law will take its course with force, what happened to the daughters of Manipur can never be forgotten,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. This is the first reference by the prime minister to violence in the state since bloody clashes began in May.

The head of the Government of Manipur, Biren Singh, has indicated for his part on Twitter that “the Police have taken action and have made the first arrest”. “A thorough investigation is underway and we will ensure that strict measures are taken against the perpetrators, including the possibility of capital punishment.. En nuestra sociedad no hay lugar para actos atroces”, ha añadido Singh.

The incident has aroused a wave of indignation, both among political parties and civil society organizations, as well as in the country's highest judicial body. The Chief Justice, DY. Chandrachud, has stated that what happened is “simply unacceptable” and that the court will act “if the government does not.”

According to the Manipur Police, the events took place on May 4 in the Thoubal district.. The two women forced to parade naked belong to the Kuki-Zomi tribal community, according to a statement from the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF).

The northeastern state has been engulfed in a wave of ethnic violence, which erupted on May 3 when a youth march of mostly Kukis, tribes concentrated mostly in mountainous areas, protested against a court request to classify the majority Meitei as “tribal.”. Efforts by the authorities to mediate in the conflict have not yet succeeded in ending the fighting.