Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 10: A 37-year old woman has revealed yet another horrific case of sexual assault during the ethnic clashes in Manipur in early May when the strife erupted between the tribal Kukis and non-tribal Meiteis in the north-eastern state.
The survivor – who has been living in a relief camp – filed a police case at the Bishnupur police station on Wednesday complaining that she was sexually assaulted on May 3 in Churachandpur district ad gave details of her ordeal. She said she got the courage to reveal her ordeal though late because more and more women in Manipur are coming to the police to narrate the shocking ordeal they went through and barbarism they faced as the authorities encourage them to speak up.
In the latest case, the 37-year-old woman from Manipur’s Churachandpur district alleged she was caught by a group of men – while she was fleeing from her burning house with her two sons, niece and sister-in-law – and gang-raped on May 3, the day violence broke out in the district after a rally by the hill-majority Kukis over the valley-majority Meiteis’ demand for inclusion under the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.
She said she mustered the courage to go to the police after seeing reports of women speaking up about the horrors they went through. “I did not disclose the incident to save myself and my family’s honour, dignity and to save ourselves from social ostracism. The delay in filing this complaint is due to social stigma… I even wanted to end myself,” the woman said in her statement. She is now living in a relief camp for internally displaced people. The case has been filed under Sections 376D, 354, 120B and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
According to the complainant, around 6.30 pm on May 3, miscreants started burning the woman and her neighbour’s houses, after which she, her two sons, niece and sister-in-law ran as fast as they could. “I carried my niece on my back and also held my two sons and started running from the spot along with my sister-in-law. She was also carrying a baby on her back and running ahead of me. Then I stumbled and fell down on the road and unable to get up… my sister-in-law came back running towards me and picked up my niece from my back and ran along with my two sons as I insisted,” the woman said.
“When I finally managed to get up, some five-six… miscreants got hold of me… They started verbally abusing and assaulting me. Despite my resistance, I was forcefully pinned down. After this, the men started sexually assaulting me…” the woman said in the FIR.
The woman said her health completely deteriorated, and she even thought of committing suicide. She said she went to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences in the state capital Imphal, but returned without seeing a doctor as she couldn’t even “express” herself. Subsequently, she said, she went to JNIMS Hospital in Imphal on Tuesday as her health worsened. The doctors there treated and counselled her, contributing to her strength to report the case.
“… I started realising the trauma and sufferings that I went through because of their heinous crimes committed against me without any fault of mine… Adequate punishment should be given to the gang of culprits who abused, sexually and physically assaulted me,” the woman said.
Last month, a horrific video of two women being paraded naked on a road by a group of men in Manipur was shared widely on social media, drawing massive condemnation and calls for action. The accused seen in the video have been arrested.
The Manipur Police told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that over 6,500 police cases have been filed between the nearly three-month period from May 3 to July 30. The biggest chunk of police cases has been filed under the category “arson, looting and destruction of house property”, according to a police report submitted in the Supreme Court. These cases in thousands, inflated by multiple zero FIRs over the same cases, are arson (4,454), looting (4,148), destruction of house property (4,694), and damage to public property (584).
This data indicates the huge scale of destruction of property in Manipur when the ethnic violence was at its worst. A note presented by Manipur government in Supreme Court this week on “disaggregation” of 6,523 FIRs shows that one case of rape and murder (the victim was allegedly raped and murdered), three cases of rape/gang rape, six cases of assault on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty, and 72 cases of murder had been registered as on July 31.” As many as 152 people have been killed in the ethnic violence between the tribal Kuki-Zo and Meitei community since May 3.
Meanwhile, 40 legislators from Manipur, which includes Meitei and Naga members, submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding complete disarmament of civilians and transfer of Assam Rifles (battalions 9, 22 and 37) from their present location replacing them with “trustworthy Central forces along with State security.”
The Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) demanded withdrawal of Suspension of Operation (SoO) pact with Kuki insurgent groups and pressed for compilation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Manipur. “The issue must be addressed politically In order to resolve this crisis of conflict. There are many options that can be explored. On one hand, to reassure the indigenous people of Manipur, NRC can be implemented in Manipur, sooner rather than later. Biometric registrations of Immigrants have started and it should be expanded and strengthened, the memorandum said.
