Nearly three years after a Kuki girl from Manipur was gangraped by an armed group of three men during the ethnic violence of May 2023, the girl has died due to the trauma and grief of the rape.
“She became too weak, too fragile to even sit; she started having breathing issues after the incident, and she never really recovered from it,” her younger sister told FoEJ Media.
According to her mother, then 18-year-old survivor was shifted across multiple hospitals in Nagaland, Assam, and Manipur for medical care before she died at a government hospital in Singhat on January 11.On May 15, 2023, just days after ethnic violence broke out between the Meitei and Kuki communities, the woman was abducted in Imphal, assaulted, and allegedly subjected to gang rape.
“We are still in trauma after her death. We avoid discussing it now because it is too painful — the family remains deeply depressed, ” her younger sister told FoEJ Media.
No Arrests Even After Three Years and Detailed FIR
More than two years after the assault, no arrests have been made in the case, despite a detailed First Information Report (FIR) being filed in July 2023.
As per the reports, she was abducted in May 2023 from Imphal’s New Checkon area and was “handed over” to the armed group. She was beaten and “slapped” repeatedly and was eventually gang raped.
According to a report by Hindustan Times, the woman fell into a creek before managing to reach a road at the foot of a hillock, where an auto-rickshaw driver transporting vegetable found her. He first took her to Bishnupur police station and later transported her to Imphal the same night. In the wee hours of May 16, she reached Kangpokpi district— from where she was rushed to a hospital in Kohima, Nagaland, owing to the critical nature of her injuries.
The family filed a zero FIR at Kangpokpi police station on July 21, 2023. The complaint invoked Sections 354 (assault with intent to outrage modesty), 307 (attempt to murder), 364 (kidnapping), 376 (rape), 376D (gang rape), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, along with Section 3 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
“She was victimised twice—first by politics that fuelled hatred and violence, and then by a system that failed to act with urgency,” Senior CPI(M) leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Brinda Karat.
“The tragic death of a gang rape victim from the Kuki ST community in Manipur, who died without seeing justice, is an indictment of the politics of hate and the judicial process,” she said.
“She was never able to overcome the trauma of the incident, which severely affected her health. Our entire family has still not recovered from what happened,” her family told FoEJ Media.
“She was a girl full of dreams and aspirations and was very lively before the incident,” her younger sister said.
Over 260 Dead, More Than 60,000 Displaced in Manipur Violence
The ethnic violence that erupted in Manipur in May 2023 is the result of decades of unresolved tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities, intensified by issues of land rights, identity, and political representation. Though the Meiteis make up around 65% of the state’s population and control 40 of the 60 assembly seats, they are barred from buying land in hill areas—a restriction not imposed on hill tribes in the valley.
The ethnic violence that erupted in Manipur in May 2023 was not solely due to the Meitei community’s push for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, though that remains the immediate legal flashpoint. Underlying the unrest is growing tension over land rights, forest access, and identity politics.
Government data shows that the conflict has claimed over 260 lives and forced more than 60,000 people to leave their homes. Despite the imposition of President’s Rule in Manipur since February 2025, many survivors and families say they continue to face delays, official apathy, and an ongoing struggle for justice.
The Manipur High Court’s direction to consider ST status for the Meiteis, who make up around 65% of the state’s population and primarily live in the Imphal Valley, was met with sharp opposition from tribal communities, especially the Kukis.
What significantly intensified the situation was the state government’s crackdown on what it described as illegal encroachments in protected forest areas—primarily in Kuki-dominated hill districts.
Many Kukis also see the crackdown as targeting ethnic Chin refugees from Myanmar, further deepening the sense of persecution. The Meiteis, meanwhile, express frustration over restrictions preventing them from owning land in the hills—protections not reciprocated in the valley—adding to the complex web of grievances fueling the conflict.
