Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum lists 13 ‘crimes’ in Manipur, appeals for help

The 16-page document lists atrocities that allegedly took place between May 3, when the violence between Meiteis and Kukis started, and July 6

ITLF spokesperson Ginza Vualzong told The Telegraph that the atrocities had been documented and made public for possible use by those who want to support the victims.

Representational image/File Photo

Umanand Jaiswal, TT, Guwahati, 25.07.23 : The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), a conglomerate of recognised tribes of Churachandpur district in Manipur, has released a list of 14 alleged instances of crimes against Kuki-Zo women during the ongoing unrest.

These include the May 4 incident of two women being paraded naked and molested by a mob, a video of which emerged last week. One of the women was allegedly gang-raped.

The 16-page document lists atrocities that allegedly took place between May 3, when the violence between Meiteis and Kukis started, and July 6. Both communities have suffered in the unrest, which has claimed at least 152 lives and displaced 60,000 people.

ITLF spokesperson Ginza Vualzong told The Telegraph that the atrocities had been documented and made public for possible use by those who want to support the victims, including fighting their cases or writing about their ordeal so that they receive justice.

The ITLF spokesperson said that calls could be made to the number, 8826532299, or messages sent to itlfmediacell@gmail.com by those keen on helping the victims.

“There were a lot of queries about the crimes committed against women after the video of the two Kuki-Zo women went viral on Wednesday. We thought it would be handy for everyone if we release such a document,” Vualzong said.

The following are details of the 14 alleged instances of crimes documented by the ITLF. The identity of victims of suspected sexual violence has been withheld by the ITLF in accordance with the law. Some of the incidents had already been reported. Kuki-Zo organisations refer to Churachandpur as Lamka.

The response of Meitei organisations could not be obtained when this report was filed. Sources in Manipur said the police had taken the “matter seriously” and were “verifying the allegations”.

Ex-bureaucrat

On May 3 night, the residence of Thangi Hmar, 62, a retired senior health supervisor with the Manipur government, in New Lambulane, Imphal, was ransacked. She and her son were assaulted by about 100 members of the radical organisations Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun.

Twenty-two people from four neighbouring households were sheltering in her house.

“The assault on Mrs Thangi Hmar continued unabated until a group of compassionate local women intervened, allowing them a narrow escape. Their house was looted, then burned, along with their two dogs,” the ITLF document says.

Valiant mom

Gouzavung, 57, an under-secretary with the state government, her recently married son Goulalsang, 27, and other family members were on their way to a CRPF relief camp, about 2km from her government quarters in Imphal, when they were intercepted by a mob on May 4.

As the mob assaulted her son, Gouzavung rushed towards the mob, positioning herself between the attackers and her battered son. Both mother and son were bludgeoned to death on the spot, the ITLF says. Gouzavung’s daughter-in-law suffered multiple injuries.

Kin killed

While Chingthianniang and her family were approaching a camp to seek refuge on the morning of May 4, a group of 200-250 individuals encircled their vehicle and vandalised it with wooden sticks and iron bars in Imphal.

The mob beat up Chingthianniang’s husband and mother-in-law, before pulling her out and assaulting her. She suffered several blows to her head from a wooden log.

When she regained consciousness, she found herself at the ICU of a hospital, having undergone a craniotomy and other surgeries because of a fractured skull, blood clots in her brain and fractured fingers. She was informed of the death of her husband and mother-in-law after her discharge.

Nursing students

Agnes Neikhohat and another Kuki-Zo woman were nursing students at Nightingale Nursing Institute, Porompat, Imphal. On May 4 evening, a mob barged into their hostel, checked their Aadhaar cards and dragged them out to the streets. They were punched in the face. Three of Agnes’s front teeth were shattered. The mob kicked and beat her with thick wooden sticks.

Two men struck Agnes in the head, causing her to gradually slip into unconsciousness. Agnes was then dumped at a hospital. After discharge, she was sent to Lamka with an army escort.

Car wash atrocity

According to information provided by the families of two Kuki-Zo women who worked at a car wash in Imphal, a mob that included women gagged the two and locked them in a room from 5pm to 7pm on May 4.

A local woman allegedly facilitated this act, and instigated the mob to assault the victims as an act of retaliation to false claims of Meitei women being raped and murdered at Lamka, the ITLF says. When the room was opened after 7pm, the women were dead.

Taped barbarity

Two Kuki-Zo women were on May 4 paraded naked and groped by a Meitei mob, the ITLF said.

The mob had first set their village on fire. The police rescued a small group of villagers but “literally handed over” these villagers to the mob when intercepted.

The mob clobbered two men in the group to death before getting two women to strip. The mob, made up of men and women, then groped and slapped the women victims, while mocking them, and forced them to walk naked. The ITLF has alleged gang rape.

The two men murdered were the father and younger brother of one of the victims, aged 19.

Lethal fake claim

A mother and her two daughters were killed at Uripok in Imphal on May 4. Such attacks were triggered by fabricated reports of Meitei women being raped in Lamka. The photos that were being circulated were of a young girl from Delhi who was killed by her parent.

Nurse killed

Nianghoihching Simte, a nurse at Churachandpur District Hospital since 2021, was shot dead on the night of May 5 in front of Venus Hotel in New Lamka by a group of Arambai Tenggol, proscribed Meitei insurgents, and Manipur police Commandos who were accompanying an Army convoy, according to the ITLF.

Nianghoihching and other unarmed youths were on Tiddim Road, attempting to reason with the security personnel. They were questioning why Meiteis from Lamka were being evacuated while stranded Kuki-Zo people in Imphal were not given the same option.

Amidst the chaos, these youths were “fired upon by Meitei militants & security personnel”, the ITLF said. Two other youths lost their lives alongside Nianghoihching, while more than 10 suffered serious bullet injuries, the Forum added.

Savagery

Thiandam Vaiphei, a 45-year-old widow and mother of two, fell victim to a horrifying act of violence at the Pheitaiching village of the Kangpokpi district on May 6. Her head, hand and legs were chopped, and her body was set ablaze along with her house by the Arambai Tenggol, Meitei Leepun and proscribed Meitei insurgents, the ITLF said.

Snatched at ATM

A 18-year-old girl was snatched in front of an ATM at Checkon in Imphal on May 15 by a group travelling in two Boleros. She was trying to withdraw money to escape from Imphal. Her abductors brought her to a confined Meitei settlement along the Wangkhei Ayang Palli Road. There, women and men tortured her till the evening.

Fearing the arrival of the police or the army, the mob contacted the Arambai Tenggol and handed her over, the ITLF said. Her captors blindfolded her, bound her hands and readied their guns to shoot her. However, they realised that a gunshot at that location might alert the authorities.

They decided to take her to the hillocks in Bishnupur. Hit with the butt of a rifle, she fell unconscious. When she regained consciousness, she overheard their plans to kill her.

Feigning the need to urinate, she managed to escape with help from a Muslim autorickshaw driver she met by chance. Her medical report, when she was later examined at a hospital in Kohima, confirmed assault and rape, the ITLF said.

Ambulance murders

Meena Hangshing, 45, her son Tonsing Hangshing, 7, and Lydia Lourembam, 37, were burnt alive on June 4 inside the ambulance they were travelling in with a critically injured Tonsing who was hit in the head by an Aramboi Tenggol sniper while the family was taking refuge in the 22 AR B Coy camp, the ITLF said.

The Imphal West superintendent of police sent an ambulance to rush Tonsing to hospital. A mere 10km away from the point where the Assam Rifles had ceased providing escort in Imphal’s Iroisemba area, a mob led by the Meira Paibis attacked the police convoy, the ITLF said. A rumour had been spread that Kuki militants were being evacuated. Ignoring the fact that a critically injured child and two Meitei women were inside the ambulance, the mob set the vehicle ablaze.

Disguised killers

A group of Meitei men in India Reserve Batallion (IRB) uniforms descended on Khoken Kuki-Zo village, located between Kangpokpi and Imphal West, around 4am on June 10. They murdered Mrs Dimkhohoi, 65, and two men -- Khaijamang Guite, 52, and Jangpao Touthang, 40.

Dimkhohoi was praying in the village church. The younger brother of Dimkhohoi said that around 40 Meitei insurgents had entered the village.

Patient killed

Donngaihching, a Kuki-Zo woman, was shot and killed by Meitei militants outside the Shishu Nishtha Niketan school in Kwakeitheil Mayaikoibi, Imphal West, on July 6, the ITLF said. Donngaihching had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and had been seen wandering the streets for an extended period of time. Neighbours had seen her near Paite Veng, adjacent to the Imphal airport.

It is believed the Meitei militants forcibly took her in an autorickshaw, before shooting her and abandoning her body in daylight. A video clip that emerged a few days after suggested that her body had been left unattended on the roadside for hours, the ITLF said.

Marriage no shield

Mrs. Victim 3, hailing from Langjing in Imphal, was married to a Meitei. On May 5, during her husband’s absence, she was forcefully abducted from their residence by the Arambai Tenggol. “Subsequently, they transported her to a nearby paddy field where she endured unimaginable suffering as she became a victim of rape and, ultimately, murder,” the ITLF said.