A 20-year-old woman from the Kuki-Zo community, who was abducted and allegedly gang-raped during the ethnic violence that erupted in Manipur in May 2023, has died after a prolonged battle with trauma and ill health — with no arrests made in her case to date.
The woman was just 18 when she was abducted and reportedly handed over to members of an armed group. According to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), the physical injuries and severe psychological trauma she suffered never fully healed. She passed away on January 10, after nearly two-and-a-half years of waiting for justice.
An FIR was registered on July 21, 2023, but remains pending at Porompat police station in Imphal East. So far, none of the accused has been identified.
Kuki-Zo organisations, including the Committee on Tribal Unity, held a candlelight vigil on Saturday to demand accountability and justice for the survivor, who lived with the aftermath of the assault for over 30 months. She had initially reported the crime to Kangpokpi police after fleeing the Imphal Valley amid escalating unrest.
The FIR states that she was abducted on May 15, 2023, near an ATM booth in Imphal’s New Checkon area. It alleges that some women from a group involved in the clashes allowed four armed men from a valley-based outfit to take her to a hilltop, where three of them allegedly sexually assaulted her before abandoning her in a creek.
She was later found by an autorickshaw driver transporting vegetables. The following day, she fled Imphal and sought medical treatment in Kangpokpi, before being referred to hospitals in Kohima and later Guwahati.
Despite months of treatment, she continued to suffer from serious uterine complications and deep psychological distress, the ITLF said, describing her death as symbolic of the suffering endured by the community during the violence.
The Committee on Tribal Unity has appealed to the Union government to ensure swift justice, stating that punishing the perpetrators would uphold the spirit of the Prime Minister’s Beti Bachao vision.
