Strongly condemning the incident of two Kuki-Zo women were being paraded naked and molested- a video which went viral in social media, perpetrated by a Meitei mob, thousands of Kuki-Zo women took to the street and staged a sit in protest at the Wall of Remembrance, Tuibuong, Churachandpur district of Manipur on Friday.
The womenfolk in black dresses were seen holding placards such as ‘ We can’t stay with Meiteis and still be human’, ‘ The nation hangs its head with shame’, ‘ Lust of our women and their bodies is a crime unpardonable’, Capital punishment for the rapists’, ‘Dignities killed but souls intake.’
Civil bodies, student organizations, politician have come out in condemning the incident. The Extra Judicial Execution Victim Families Association Manipur ( EEVFAM) has demanded a befitting punishment as per the law to all persons involved in the act and stated that the state government should be held responsible for any unwanted incidents happening against the people.
Senapati District Women’s Association (SDWA) organized a rally on Saturday at Senapati bazaar in condemnation of the incident. Holding banner which reads as ‘ We condemned the dehumanizing act of parading naked of the two Vaiphei women on May 4.’ The womenfolk shouted slogans, demanding justice for the victims.
The KSO General Headquarters in a press release issued on Saturday stated that it vehemently condemned the heinous crimes of the radical Meitei mobs against the Kuki Community and stated that the incessant barbarism of the Meetei/Meitei Community exposed to the World each day. The recent viral video of two Kuki ladies of B. Phainom Village, Kangpokpi District which was shot on May 4, 2023 went viral on July 19, 2023.
In the horrific visuals, the hapless duo panted for life while the radical mob shout to finish them off, shoving on their boobs, putting hand on the private part and dragged them to open paddy field and gang-raped.
An FIR had already been filed on May 18, 2023 based on their testimony, but the Meetei/Meitei Chief Minister, N. Biren Singh’s indifference toward the incident silent the voice of the ladies until the video was made public to the world.
“Had the incident been dramatized as the Meitei usually do, the story would have been exposed long ago, which the Kuki have not dramatic expertise. However, finally, the truth prevailed,” KSO said, adding that the sufferings of the two brave Kuki ladies would be buried alive forever like the rest if the video had not been circulated on social media.
KSO claimed that similar cases of the same kind registered in various police stations, which the Manipur Government concealed, would explode to re-surface once internet is restored. This is the reason Meetei/Meitei chief minister has cut-off the internet connection in the state for an un-usual long.
Stating that there are many more videos similar to what went viral on Wednesday and could come out anytime soon, and when it does, the KSO General Headquarters appealed to media fraternity and the Government to show the same concern like how they have shown this time (B. Phainom Village ladies).
For instance, a video clip of Meira Paibis pushing two Kuki girls in Imphal towards the men (radical Meitei Mob) asking them to rape the two Kuki girls went viral and later on both the Kuki girls were killed. Yet, no action has been taken against those Meira Paibis and the men involved in sexual molestation and murder. And it is one of many incidents that happened against the Kuki women and there are many more which is not seen in the public domain, KSO said.
The KSO GHQ also mentioned that two Kuki girls (L) Florence Hangshing & (L) Olivia Chongloi of H. Khopibung Village, Kangpokpi District were molested, raped and later killed by the Meitei miscreants on 4th May 2023 from their workplace at Konung Mamang, Imphal.
“The Kuki Community is tired of living together with the community who has the culture of
rape and immorality. One may recall for fact check the incident of 2006 Parbung Mass
Rape Case, wherein secessionist Meitei Militants raped Kuki women in gunpoint in a broad
Daylight,” it said.
The beastly nature of the Meetei/Meitei Community can also be seen in another video wherein they decapitated (L) David Thiek, a village volunteer of Langza Village, Churachandpur District on July 2,2023, cursed the deceased and put the decapitated head on a pole just to be circulated in the public in disgusted.
KSO demanded the Government to book the culprits under relevant section of Indian Penal Code and asserted that the Kuki-Zo community would no longer live together with this immoral community anymore and that the Kuki Zo people are only waiting for the Government of India to announce the Separate Administration.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum vehemently condemned the ‘sickening act’ and demands that the central and state governments, National Commission for Women, and National Commission for Scheduled Tribes to take cognizance of the offense and take all necessary measures to bring justice to the culprits..
Two-and-a-half-months into the ethnic conflict in Manipur, evidence of atrocities committed against Kuki-Zo tribals continue to surface. The despicable scene, which happened on May 4 in Kangpokpi district, showed the men constantly molesting the helpless women, who cried and pleaded with their captors.
The gangrape of the women in B. Phainom village happened after the village was burnt down and two men - one middle-aged and another teenager - were brutally beaten to death by the mob. The horrifying ordeal suffered by these innocent women is amplified by the perpetrators' decision to share the video, which shows the identity of the victims, on social media, ITLF said.
The North East Students’ Organization(NESO) while strongly condemning the incident stated that such acts are outrageous, barbaric and inhumane which are unacceptable in a civilized society.
In a press release issued on Friday, NESO stated that in every conflict or riots, women and children are the most vulnerable and frequently preyed upon. Atrocities against helpless women and children including abusing their modesty and dignity at any time and even at war should never be condoned and should be condemned by one and all.
NESO demanded that all culprits involved in the senseless act should be arrested and stringent punishment should be meted out to them. It also urged all different indigenous communities in Manipur and in the entire Northeast to maintain peace and brotherhood so as to further strengthen the age old relationship that had been developed over generations.
The Hills Journal
K. Salbung, Churachandpur
Manipur-795128
