Manipur video: Kuki survivor recounts ‘take of your clothes, or will kill you…’

The atrocious incident of two women being disrobed and paraded in Manipur that occurred about two-and-half month ago came into focus only on Wednesday, that too, after a video surfaced on the internet. The incident showcases how less we know about the extent and the scale of the conflict in Manipur that has claimed over 150 lives so far. People who were witness to the incident express that ‘the state nor the central government have the intent or the skills to handle the situation’ and ‘you tend to lose hope…’

If you don’t take off your clothes, will kill you: survivor account

“When we resisted, they told me: ‘If you don’t take off your clothes, we will kill you’,” a survivor, who is in her mid forties told Scroll. Then as she obeyed them to “protect herself”, the men allegedly slapped and punched her. 

The woman from the Kuki community said assault took place near her village, B Phainom, in Kangpokpi district on May 4, a day after clashes erupted between the two ethnic groups. 

Speaking on the horrific incident, the survivor said after hearing about Meitei mobs "burning homes" in a nearby village, her family and others fled through a dirt lane but were discovered. A neighbor and his son were killed nearby, and the mob assaulted the women, forcing them to strip.

She added that the men dragged to a paddy field near the road and sked her to “lie down” there. “I did as they told me, and three men surrounded me… One of them told the other, ‘let’s rape her’, but ultimately they did not,” she told Scroll expressing that she was ‘lucky enough to escape’. 

She, however, she was not aware of what was happening to her 21-year-old neighbour, because she was some distance away.

Officer who filed FIR got transferred: Sources

Witnessing inaction against the violence, a senior officer with a paramilitary force, belonging to the Kuki community, told The Telegraph that neither the state nor the central government seems to have the intent or the skills to handle the situation. “You tend to lose all hope when you see police do nothing even after an FIR is drawn up and one eyewitness gives an account of the incident.”

On May 4, during the conflict's onset, an incident took place. The elder victim's relative lodged a complaint on May 13 at Saikul police station in Kangpokpi district as Meitei people controlled the area of occurrence.

“They could not lodge the complaint in the place of occurrence as the Meitei people had taken control of the area where the incident took place.”

Meanwhile, the officer-in-charge of the Saikul police station got his transfer order two days after he got the FIR registered

Sources close to the Police said, “He had begun the process of investigation and spoken to one of the two women over the phone. Before his transfer, he even transferred the FIR to the police station concerned, where the incident took place. But nothing has happened after that.”

Manipur state has been witnessing ethnic clashes since May 3 between majority the Meiteis, concentrated in Imphal valley, and the Kukis, occupying the hills. Over 160 people have been killed in the violence so far.