NEW DELHI – Women in India’s north-eastern state of Manipur attacked the house of the main suspect and another man in a sexual assault case that has enraged the nation, the police said on Friday.

The main suspect had allegedly dragged two Kuki women onto the streets in May and later incited a mob to rape and parade them naked, the police said on Friday, as ethnic clashes engulfed the state.

The sexual assault took place over two months ago, but it captured national attention after a short video went viral on social media earlier this week.

The main suspect, a resident of violence-hit Manipur state, was arrested on Thursday, hours after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the alleged sexual assault as “shameful” and promised tough action.

Three others were also arrested, and a police official said that they were tracing at least 30 others involved in the crime.

“Local women pelted stones and burned some parts of the house belonging to the prime accused in a village,” said Mr Hemant Pandey, a senior police official in capital city Imphal.

“We request women to protest peacefully as there is intense unease. We understand their rage,” he added.

Later on Friday, another mob of women torched the house of a second accused, reducing it to ashes.

Protests were planned in several parts of India by rights groups demanding justice and swift investigations into the latest incident to raise questions about the safety of women in the country.

The sexual assault was reported by the victims in May after ethnic clashes began in Manipur. The clashes were triggered by a court order that the government should consider extending special benefits enjoyed by the tribal Kuki people to the majority Meitei population as well.

At least 125 people have been killed and more than 40,000 have fled their homes since the violence erupted.

“We want to know why police failed to take swift action when they knew that women were raped and paraded naked in Manipur,” said Ms Radhika Burman, a student in eastern city Kolkata who is set to lead a public demonstration on Thursday.

Mr Modi, who had not made any public remarks about the trouble in a state ruled by his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, spoke a day after the videos showing women being molested went viral.

Opposition MPs who have submitted notices in both houses of the Parliament to discuss the violence in Manipur stalled the proceedings on Friday.

“Manipur needs complete attention, and we demand the Prime Minister make an elaborate statement in the Parliament,” said Mr Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the opposition Congress party. REUTERS