She had studied till Class VIII and dreamt of opening her own beauty parlour. She had been preparing herself by working at a parlour in Imphal, her home, from the age of 18.
But the young woman fell victim to Manipur’s deadly and unending ethnic strife, kidnapped from Imphal, allegedly raped by three men, and forced to flee the state capital because it had become too dangerous for Kuki-Zos like her.
Two years and eight months after her horrific ordeal, beset with medical complications and mental trauma, the 21-year-old died on January 11 afternoon at a government hospital in her native Singat, Churachandpur district.
“My daughter was a very lively and outgoing girl…. After the incident, she lost her smile,” media outlet Newslaundry quoted her mother as saying.
“My daughter became so traumatised that she confined herself to one room. She completely stopped interacting with everyone…. She didn’t leave my side even when we stepped out for 15 minutes.”
She told Newslaundry: “For the last two years, she lived in constant fear. She used to tell me that she did not want to live any more....”
The victim was abducted from the New Checkon area of Imphal on the evening of May 15, 2023, at the peak of the violence between Meiteis and Kuki-Zos that has claimed 260 lives and displaced more than 60,000 people.
Her passing brought the Kuki-Zo community together in grief on Saturday evening and triggered a renewed call for speedy justice, accountability at every level to prevent a repeat, and a separate administration for Kuki-Zos.
Meiteis too have suffered in the unrest, with neither community able to enter the other's areas even now because of safety reasons.
In her complaint with police in Kuki-Zo-majority Kangpokpi, lodged on July 21, 2023, the victim said she had been raped by three of her four abductors.
Sources said the victim had eventually escaped her tormentors and, helped by an auto-rickshaw driver, reached her home on May 16. She left Imphal the same day and arrived in Kangpokpi via Senapati district to receive medical attention.
During her long battle for survival, she also received treatment in Guwahati, her family and Kuki-Zo organisations said.
Two leading Kuki-Zo organisations — the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) and the Committee on Tribal Unity (Cotu) — held well-attended candlelight vigils in Churchandpur and Kangpokpi, respectively, in her memory on Saturday evening.
A candlelight vigil in Churachandpur on Saturday
The Telegraph contacted her mother over the phone through a member of the Delhi-based Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO), managing to catch her briefly as she headed to church on Sunday evening.
She confirmed that her daughter had studied till Class VIII and “was interested in opening a parlour of her own”.
“Central government officials who met us during her treatment assured us that she would be rehabilitated in some way once she got well,” she said.
“Now that she is no longer alive, we request them to at least provide us with a house of our own since ours in Imphal was destroyed in the conflict. We also want speedy justice for her.”
The victim’s sister, who studies in Churachandpur, said their parents and brother attended Saturday’s candlelight vigil in Churachandpur.
The CBI is handling the case of rape, kidnapping and attempt to murder. Kuki-Zo organisations said no arrests had been made yet.
“I would like to say that no girl or woman should have to endure what our sister endured,” Kim Haokip, a KSO member and media-in-charge for the Kuki-Zo Women’s Forum & NCR, told this newspaper.
“This is outrageous! The rapists are roaming free and we want justice for all the victims from our community.”
The ITLF said the victim’s suffering “epitomises the brutal atrocities inflicted upon our people since the outbreak of the ethnic conflict in Manipur”.
Although she “miraculously survived, she suffered severe physical injuries, deep psychological trauma, and serious uterine complications”.
Manipur, in the throes of conflict since May 3, 2023, is now under President’s rule.