Manipur violence claimed lives of 27 tribeswomen, rape survivors shifted to undisclosed location

More gory details of the ongoing ethnic strife in Manipur are coming out in the open. As many as 27 women belonging to the Kuki-Zomi tribe have been killed ever since the violence broke out on May 3.

Seven tribeswomen, some of them killed, were raped. Eleven women were beaten to death, two others burnt alive and five women were gunned down. The exact cause of the deaths of five other women was not immediately known.

Kuki organisations released the chilling statistics days after a 26-second video of a Meitei mob parading two women naked through the streets of B Phainom surfaced on social media, numbing the collective conscience of the country.  

The violence has so far claimed more than 160 lives, including 119 tribespeople. Though several women had been gang-raped at B Phainom village in the Kangpokpi district, most of them remained unwilling to complain, according to the Vaiphei Students' Association.

Bloodcurdling brutality of ethnic violence numbs Manipur

Women who survived gangrapes and brutal assaults live under the fear of getting murdered at any moment. Leaders of Kuki organisations said the survivors and witnesses have been shifted to an undisclosed location. A tribal organisation has provided security even for the survivors' relatives.

The Kuki-dominated Churachandpur is numb with fear, even as India remains shocked over the video of a mob parading two women in public. It was not an isolated incident. Several families have gone through the same trauma, and many more women were assaulted and abused. Several bodies still lie unclaimed in the hospitals in Imphal.

"It pains us that no one realised our situation till the video went public," Vaiphei Students' Association spokesperson Lianboi Vaiphei told Manorama.

Vaiphei is a sub-sect of the Kuki ethnic group. The clashes began when a Meitei crowd attacked B Phainom village in Manipur's Kangpokpi district, violating women and killing their men.

The mother of one of the young survivors said she did not believe it when told that her village was brutally attacked. The mob killed her husband and son, paraded her daughter naked, and raped her, the mother burst out in tears while speaking to Manorama.

The young woman has been shifted to a safer place. The mother said people they knew committed the crime. The mob took the young women from a police vehicle, and while they were disrobed and paraded, the police looked on without acting.

The woman said the police took the young women in their vehicle on the pretext of shifting them to safety. But they took the vehicle straight into the Meitei crowd.

The husband of one of the abused women was a soldier who had participated in the Kargil war. He categorically ruled out living alongside Meiteis, who raped the Kuki women and destroyed their houses, anymore.

Besides fighting for Kargil, he was also part of the Indian Army's peacekeeping mission in Sri Lanka. His wife was one of the two women who were paraded naked. The mob behaved like wild beasts, he said.

The women's relatives said they came to know of the video on social media much later. The women, who were then in Churachandpur, were immediately shifted to an undisclosed safer place.

The phone numbers of the survivors and their relatives were changed. The women were shifted in separate vehicles to maintain secrecy. Only a few know their location, Lalal, president of the Vaiphei Students' Association, the outfit providing security to them, said.

The students' association fears that women might be killed since they are witnesses in the major case. They also suspect that the state might aid their elimination.

The organisation brought the relatives of the survivors before the media at Churachandpur on Sunday, July 23, after making elaborate arrangements for their security. Lalal said the situation warranted covering the relatives' faces to hide their identities.

Fear of attack, social stigma force families to bear trauma in silence

Kuki organisations said many women from their group were gang-raped and many others were killed in the ethnic violence.

Lianboi Vaiphei of the Vaiphei Students' Association said most of them were not lodging formal complaints due to the prevailing social conditions among the Kukis. He added that many people were brutally attacked at B Phainom village.

Compared to Meitei, Kukis are more conservative. Since their population is less, most of them know each other. They adhere to their traditions linked to marriage and other events, and hence most girls and families are reluctant to let others know of the trauma they have undergone. Otherwise, the number of cases would have shot up significantly, Lianboi Vaiphei said.

Additionally, they fear another attack if they dare to complain, he added.

Vaiphei leaders said one of the women who was paraded naked got married recently. She and her husband were unaware that the video had been made public. However, her husband and family backed her, and both of them were shifted to the undisclosed location that night itself.

Torchbearers turn bloodhounds: Women prod men to assault girls

One of the survivors said Meitei women encouraged the men to abuse them. It is alleged that Meira Paibis — or women torchbearers — handed over a 19-year-old student of a Nursing Institute in Imphal to Meitei men.

The student said Meira Paibis raided her hostel on May 4, a day after the violence had begun. The student and another Kuki girl couldn't hide on time and were caught. Though the girls tried to escape saying they belonged to the Naga clan, the raiding women recognised them as Kukis and unleashed a brutal attack.

The girl recalled a Meitei woman ordering the men to kill her. "Why are you keeping them alive? Abuse them, mutilate them, burn them alive," the woman screamed.

The girls were thrown onto the street. A man attempted to gun them down, but another person dissuaded him from killing the girls. They have complained to the police at Churachandpur and Uttam Nagar in Delhi.

The role of Meira Paibis — considered a symbol of resilience and women's power — has sent shockwaves across the country. They were at the forefront of the struggle against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act that gives the military wide powers of arrest, to shoot to kill, and to occupy or destroy property during counterinsurgency operations. They were also involved in anti-drug activities.

The Army had earlier complained that Meira Paibis, who guarded Meitei villages, laid siege to military vehicles to help insurgents.