Several Kuki organisations have demanded justice for a Kuki woman from Manipur who died earlier this month from an illness they allege was linked to the trauma she suffered after being gang-raped during the initial phase of ethnic violence in the state in 2023.
The organisations, based in Manipur’s Churachandpur district and in Delhi, claimed that the woman was kidnapped in Imphal and gang-raped in May 2023. Although she managed to escape from her captors, they said she never fully recovered from the psychological shock and physical injuries. She died on January 10 while undergoing treatment in Guwahati.
The groups also reiterated their demand for a separate administration for the Kuki community, asserting that coexistence with the Meitei community was no longer possible.
More than 260 people have been killed and thousands displaced in the ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and hills-based Kuki-Zo groups in Manipur since May 2023. The state has been under President’s Rule since February last year.
In a statement, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) said, “Her death is yet another painful testimony to the ruthless manner in which the Kuki-Zo people have been targeted.” The ITLF added that the Kuki-Zo people “now have no other option but to demand a separate administration for our safety, dignity, and survival”.
The Kuki Students' Organisation (KSO), Delhi & NCR, alleged that no effective action had been taken against the accused despite the gravity of the crime and repeated appeals from civil society groups.
“We categorically assert that her death must be officially recognised as resulting from the violence committed against her in 2023. Any attempt to treat it otherwise would amount to a denial of justice and an erasure of responsibility,” the KSO Delhi & NCR said.
The organisation also urged the Centre to fast-track the creation of a separate administration for tribals, describing it as “both necessary and unavoidable”.
A Kuki women’s group said the victim would be remembered not only for the injustice she endured but also for her strength in the face of extreme brutality.
“For nearly three years, she carried pain that no human being should ever have to bear,” the Kuki-Zo Women's Forum, Delhi & NCR, said in a statement.