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A 31-year-old woman was reportedly shot, raped and set on fire when militants attacked a tribal village in Manipur’s Jiribam district, officials familiar with the matter said Friday – an incident that has undermined the fragile peace maintained during the fighting , broke. -torn condition for almost two months.
Conflict-torn Manipur has seen deadly ethnic violence and communal clashes. (AFP)
Suspected members of the radical Metei organization Arambai Tenggol attacked the village of Zairawn on Thursday evening, according to people familiar with the matter. The village is dominated by members of the Hmar community.
“Seventeen houses were burnt by the Arambai Tenggol. As they entered the village, they started burning the houses and shooting with their automatic rifles. Villagers fled into the jungle, but one woman was trapped…,” the Indigenous Tribal Advocacy Committee (ITAC) said in a statement.
In his complaint to the police, the woman’s husband said she was raped before being set on fire.
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“My wife… mother of three was brutally murdered (raped and burned alive) on the fateful night of November 7, 2024 at our residence in Jairolpokpi (Zairawn), Jiribam, by fully armed Meitei militants. My house was also looted and burned down,” the man said in his complaint. HT has seen a copy of the complaint.
Jiribam Superintendent of Police (SP) Khamnam Robinsun Singh on Friday wrote to District Magistrate Krishna Kumar seeking permission for the post-mortem examination to be conducted in Silchar district of neighboring Assam as Jiribam does not have a “proper facility for forensic medicine” and it was “difficult” to transport the body to Imphal. In the notice, the SP said the police have invoked charges of rape in the FIR registered under BNS sections 64(1) (punishment for rape), 103(2) (murder) and others. HT has seen a copy of the communication, but not the FIR.
“We had already registered an FIR for the incident ourselves. Later, based on the statement of the woman’s husband, we added the section on rape,” said a police officer from Manipur on condition of anonymity.
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A relative of the woman said the village was engulfed in chaos during the attack.
“My house is just a few houses away from the deceased woman’s house. She is also my relative. She was hit by a bullet in the leg, but told her husband to save their children and his elderly parents and wait for her in the jungle. When security forces reached the village around 1 a.m., we entered the burnt house and found her body,” said the person, who requested anonymity. .
Located about 220 km from Imphal, near the Assam border, Jiribam is home to Meiteis, Kukis, Bengalis, Nepalis, Nagas and other communities. The situation had remained largely peaceful despite the state being embroiled in clashes, with Meitei and Kuki groups vowing not to indulge in violence during a meeting at the police commissioner’s office in June last year. However, the killing of 59-year-old S. Saratkumar Singh, a resident of the village, five months ago put the district on the boil and forced many to flee the region as the houses of both Kuki and Metei community members were set on fire were stabbed by gangs.
“Our village had no village defense volunteers as we have a CRPF camp nearby, but they did not come to our aid in time. Many people from neighboring villagers from neutral communities had seen at least nine to 10 gypsies with militants entering the village,” said another villager on condition of anonymity.
Manipur has been embroiled in violent conflict since May last year. What started as an ethnic conflict between the Meiteis majority and the Kuki tribes has grown into seemingly irreconcilable divisions within Manipuri society, with at least 230 dead and an estimated 50,000 displaced, armed militias prowling the streets, police forces divided along community boundaries and lives are led in enclaves of fear. Thursday’s violence is likely to deepen these fault lines.
“ITAC has announced a closure in all areas. ITAC urges Manipur police and commandos not to operate in ITAC’s jurisdictions. ITAC will not be responsible for any untoward incident if they fail to comply with this warning,” ITAC spokesperson John Hmar said in a statement.