The Vaiphei People's Council, Young Vaiphei Association, Zillai (Vaiphei Students’ Association), Zomi Students’ Federation and Kuki Students’ Organisation, Churachandpur, have appealed to all right-thinking citizens of the country to join in condemning not only the incidents where two women were gangraped but also the state government and political forces who are equally responsible for allowing such incidents to take place.
Strongly condemning the inhuman atrocities on women, the Kuki-Zo students and philanthropic bodies on Sunday highlighted the sequence of the incident where the two women were being paraded naked and sexually assaulted by Meitei mob on May 4, a video footage which went viral on social and other media. The joint bodies said that the mob may be a faceless body, but the real perpetrators were those in power with the agenda of hate and violence that had fueled the ethnic violence in Manipur. The bodies demanded that the persons, groups, leaders, and instigators responsible for such actions must be booked as per law of the land. Justice must be delivered and that too must be in cognizance of the political violence involved in the crime, thus leading to political justice for the ethnic community to which the women victims belong, said the Kuki-Zo bodies.
The student bodies said that a Zero FIR was filed by a family member of one of the victims on May 18 at Saikul Police Station, Kangpokpi District, but a regular FIR was registered only a month later on June 21 in Nongpok Sekmai Police Station, Thoubal District. There are several other incidents where Kuki-Zo women were subjected to rape and were even murdered apart from the said incident.
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Till date, there are, on record, twenty-seven (27) Kuki-Zo women victims, out of which 7 were raped. 8 Kuki-Zo women bludgeoned to death, 2 burnt to death, 5 shot dead, 3 lynched, and 5 deaths whose causes are currently unspecified. On May 4 afternoon, the student bodies said the Meitei mob began to destroy properties and burn houses as they entered the village called B. Phainom, under Island Block of Kangpokpi district. Vungi, Kim, Kim's father, and Kim's brother (all names changed) were among the villagers who hid in a paddy field near the village. The Meitei mob proceeded to burn the village church, looted the houses, and slaughtered the livestock. Those in hiding were discovered and rounded up by hundreds of Meitei men armed with guns, duos, and sticks. Kim's father was beaten to death by the armed men. Vungi, Kim, and Kim's brother climbed into a police gypsy stationed nearby to save their lives and there were three policemen sitting in the gypsy (including the driver) who had witnessed everything. However, the police did nothing to stop the mobs, the Kuki civil bodies alleged. The Meitei mob physically assaulted the three people even while they were inside the police gypsy. Despite their pleas, the policemen refused to drive them away to safety. Shockingly, the driver drove the gypsy straight back into the Centre of the Meitei mob, after which the policemen left the gypsy. The student bodies also claimed that Kim's brother was then pulled out of the gypsy and clobbered to death right in front of the police. His lifeless body was laid on top of his father's corpse who was killed earlier. Kim and Vungi were also dragged out from the gypsy. They were then ordered to strip naked and were hurled all kinds of abuses and threats. The mob shouted: "If you don't take off your clothes, we will burn you alive. Don't you know that in Churachandpur, tribals raped the Meitei and even burn our children?" Kim and Vungi were stripped naked and the mob then paraded naked, sexually assaulted and gangraped. After the women were sexually assaulted, some of the men gave them shirts to cover their naked bodies. But the other men objected even to this, and ordered them to take off the shirts once again, shouting, "How dare you wear your clothes again? Are there any Hao (tribals) present here who gave you clothes to wear again? Take it off!
The violated women then walked back to the village. By then it was dusk. Kim went back to the place where her father and brother's dead bodies lay and wept inconsolably. At that time, some Meitei men came and chased the villagers out of the village. After walking barefoot for some time, the women came upon Vungi's elderly mother-in-law who had escaped by herself with great difficulty.
Journeying on, they met with some of their fellow villagers who had escaped earlier. The group passed through a village whose residents did not allow them to take shelter in their village (fearing reprisals from the Meiteis) but gave them rice and vegetables to eat. They slept on the roadside for the night, bearing the cold with nothing but their clothes. They continued their journey the next day through forests and steep mountains until they reached other Kuki-Zo villages. From there, they were sent to different relief camps in Kanggui (Kangpokpi) and Lamka (Churachandpur).
The student bodies also informed that both the victims are physically safe and are sheltered at an undisclosed location and requested the public, CSOs, media and government functionaries to respect the privacy and safety of both victims and their families at this difficult juncture. The bodies also said that the victims were mainly targeted because they belonged to a particular ethnic identity, ie, Kuki-Zo community. The act is a political act perpetrated by Meiteis against Kuki-Zo tribals, thereby targeting innocent women. The joint bodies further called upon the press and media at local, national and international levels to raise their voices against such heinous violation of human rights to ensure that due justice is delivered for all victims of sexual crime.
The Hills Journal
K. Salbung, Churachandpur
Manipur-795128
