Hmar woman allegedly raped, burnt alive in Manipur; Kuki groups claim Meiteis involved

Guwahati: A school teacher and a mother of three children, belonging to Hmar community, was allegedly raped and burnt alive by armed persons in conflict-torn Manipur's Jiribam district on Thursday night.

Official sources said the charred body of the 31-year-old woman, Zosangkim, was recovered by local organisations after a gunfight and burning of several houses by unidentified persons. Hmars are ethnically linked to the Kuki-Zo communities.

In an FIR addressed to Jiribam Superintendent of Police, the victim's husband, Ngurthansang on Friday alleged that Zosangkim was raped and burnt alive at around 9 pm at their residence by a "fully armed group Meitei militants--Arambai Tenggol."

"My house was also looted and burnt down," the complainant said while seeking action against the assailants.

In a statement, Indigenous Tribes Advocacy Committee, Pherjawl and Jiribam district, said that the woman was also shot on her leg by the armed persons.

Manipur police was yet to make an official statement about the incident. But SP, Jiribam wrote a letter to the district magistrate seeking permission for carrying the victim's body to Silchar in neighbouring Assam to conduct a postmortem.

The SP said the hospital at Jiribam lacks forensic medicine facilities and it was not advisable to carry the body to Manipur capital Imphal for post-mortem in view of the conflict between the Meiteis and the Kukis. The Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley has remained divided from the Kuki-dominated areas since the conflict started in May last year.

Hmar Inpi, Manipur, an apex body of the Hmar community, in a statement on Friday evening said, "This horrific act adds to an 18-month spree of ethnic violence by Meitei militants—a continuous assault on innocent lives that has shattered communities and devastated countless families. This barbaric act serves as yet another chilling reminder of the relentless ethnic-cleansing campaign of the Meitei militants—a campaign that has terrorized our people without mercy."

Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), a Kuki-Zo organisation in Churachandpur, a Kuki-dominated district also alleged involvement of gunmen belonging to the Meitei community. It said the armed group entered Zairawn village and started firing indiscriminately. "While most villagers managed to escape into the adjoining forest, a 31-year-old woman was captured, raped and burnt to death by the Meitei militants," the ITLF said quoting villagers.

The husband fled with his elderly parents and three children but the attackers caught her. The victim was a teacher at the Hermon Dew English Junior High School, said the statement.

The ITLF said Zairawn is a Hmar-dominated village situated about seven kilometers from the Jiribam district headquarters.

Manipur has remained roiled in the Meitei-Kuki conflict since May last year in which nearly 240 people have been killed and over 60,000 others displaced. Sporadic incidents of violence have continued despite the presence of a large number of security forces including the army.