Tribal woman killed, set ablaze in Manipur district

suspected members of the radical Metei organisation Arambai Tenggol, attacked the Zairawn village on Thursday night.

A 31-year-old woman was allegedly shot, raped, and set on fire as militants attacked a tribal village in the Jiribam district of Manipur, officials familiar with the matter said on Friday — an incident that ruptured the fragile peace maintained in the strife-torn state for close totwo months.

The strife-torn Manipur has seen deadly ethnic violence and clashes between its communities. (AFP)

According to people familiar with the matter, suspected members of the radical Metei organisation Arambai Tenggol, attacked the Zairawn village on Thursday night. The village is dominated by members of the Hmar community.

“Seventeen houses were burned by the Arambai Tenggol. While entering the village, they started burning the houses and firing from their automatic guns. Villagers fled to the jungle but a woman was trapped...,” tribal outfit Indigenous Tribal Advocacy Committee (ITAC) said in a statement.

In his complaint to the police, the woman’s husband said that she was raped before being set on fire.

“My wife… mother of three was brutally murdered (raped and burnt alive) on the fateful night of 7th November, 2024, at our residence located at Jairolpokpi (Zairawn), Jiribam, by fully armed Meitei militants. My house was also looted and burnt down,” the man said his complaint. HT has seen a copy of the complaint.

Jiribam Superintendent of Police (SP) Khamnam Robinsun Singh wrote to district magistrateKrishna Kumar on Friday, seeking permission for the post-mortem examination to be conducted in the Silchar district of neighbouring Assam as Jiribam did not have a “proper facility of forensic medicine” and it was “inconvenient” to transport the body to Imphal. In the communication, the SP said that the police have invoked rape charges 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 of the FIR.

“We had already registered an FIR into the incident on our own. Later, based on statement of the woman’s husband, we added the rape section,” a Manipur Police officer said on condition of anonymity.

A relative of the woman said chaos engulfed the village during the attack.

“My house is just a few houses from the house of the deceased woman. 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. At around 1 am, when security forces reached the village, we entered the burned-down house and found her body,” the person said, requesting anonymity. .

Located around 220km from Imphal near the Assam border, Jiribam is home to Meiteis, Kukis, Bengalis, Nepalis, Nagas, and other communities. It had remained largely peaceful despite the state being roiled in clashes, with Meitei and Kuki groups pledging not to indulge in violence during a meeting at the police superintendent’s office in June last year. However, the killing of 59-year-old S Saratkumar Singh, a resident of the village, five months ago brought the district to the boil and forced many to flee the region as the houses of both Kuki and Metei community members were set ablaze by mobs.

“Our village did not have village defence volunteers because we have a CRPF camp nearby, but they did not come to our rescue on time. Many people from adjoining villagers who are from neutral communities had seen at least 9-10 gypsies with militants entering the village,” another villager said on condition of anonymity.

Manipur has been in the throes of a violent conflict since May last year. What began as an ethnic conflict between the majority Meiteis and the tribal Kukis has grown into seemingly irreconcilable cleavages within Manipuri society, with at least 230 killed and an estimated 50,000 displaced, armed militia prowling the streets, police forces divided on community lines, and lives being led in enclaves of fear. Thursday’s violence is likely to deepen these fault lines.

“ITAC has announced a shutdown in all areas. ITAC urges Manipur police and commandos not to operate in ITAC jurisdiction areas. 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.