New violence in Hmar-dominated Manipur village. Houses burned down, woman ‘shot, sexually assaulted and burned’

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New Delhi: A 31-year-old woman, Zosangkim, was allegedly shot, beaten, sexually assaulted and burnt alive in a brutal attack on Zairawn, a Hmar-dominated village in Manipur’s Jiribam district, on Thursday evening.

According to local residents and tribal groups, 80 to 100 armed attackers, reportedly from the Meitei community and the radical-armed Meitei group Arambai Tenggol, opened fire on the villagers and set fire to as many as seventeen houses, escalating violence in the region .

“Last night around 9 p.m. we heard gunshots and we immediately started running,” said a resident of Zairawn, whose house was also on fire. “They came in two teams: one opened fire on residents, while the other set our houses on fire,” the resident, who lives right opposite Zosangkim’s house, told ThePrint on Friday.

“They not only burned our houses, they looted everything: furniture, vehicles and even ceiling fans,” he said. “They came in vehicles and loaded all our belongings. My whole house is destroyed. We had no weapons; we were completely helpless.”

A looted house in Zairawn | Photo: By special arrangement

Locals told ThePrint that Zosangkim, a mother of three (two daughters aged 9 and 7 years old and a son aged 3 years old) was shot in the thigh and injured when she tried to escape. Her husband managed to carry her half a kilometer away around 10 p.m. He quickly got their children to a safe location, but when he returned to get his wife, she had disappeared from the scene. She was later found beaten and burned alive in her own home.

Speaking to ThePrint, a senior police officer said miscreants, believed to be members of the valley-based Arambai Tenggol, had attacked Zairawn village late at night, opening fire and torching houses. He added that even though the area was under security, the miscreants had sneaked in.

“They were heavily armed with sophisticated weapons. It was late at night and they took advantage of that. A case has been registered in this regard. We are conducting combing operations in the area. The situation is under control,” the senior police official said.

When asked if Zosangkim had been raped, the officer said: “The complainants have alleged that the woman was sexually assaulted, so we took up the supplementary complaint and added sections in the case of arson that was filed. The post-mortem examination of the woman is yet to be conducted.”

Most villagers are now seeking shelter in the homes of their Muslim friends in a nearby area.

A house on fire | Photo: By special arrangement

The aforementioned local resident said, “We thought we were protected here in our village, while the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) was stationed nearby. But we are helpless. They saw what was happening – they were there, surrounding us – but they did nothing to help. They didn’t protect us at all. So what’s the point of their being here if we’re still not safe?

The Indigenous Tribes Advocacy Committee (ITAC) of Pherzawl and Jiribam districts strongly condemned the violence.

In a statement, it expressed deep distrust in Manipur’s government machinery, including state forces and police, and urged the central government to intervene.

“We request the central government to intervene to protect the innocent Kuki-Zomi-Hmar people in Jiribam and Pherzawl districts,” a statement from the agency said.

“There have been no conflicts or shellings in Jiribam in the past two to three months,” said ITAC spokesman John Hmar. “People started to believe that life would finally return to normal. Many had just returned to their homes and villages for a few days and thought it was safe. And now this violence has suddenly broken out again. I don’t even have the words for it – it’s incredibly painful for us and for our community.”

Also read: Manipur is struggling with ethnic conflicts and a broken system. CM, police, army are at loggerheads with each other

‘Post-mortem exam in Assam’

Kh. Robinsun Singh (MPS), Superintendent of Police for Jiribam, has sought permission from the District Magistrate to conduct the post-mortem examination of the victim at Silchar Medical College and Hospital in Assam.

In his letter, accessed by ThePrint, Singh has also requested that an executive magistrate be deputed to oversee the investigation, with permission to allow video reporting.

“Jiribam district does not have proper facilities for forensic medicine and the same is available in Imphal (and it) is very difficult to transport the body from Jiribam to Imphal by road along NH-37 due to the ongoing ethnic crisis in the state,” Singh says in the letter.

“Considering the utmost requirement of post-mortem examination of the body to determine the cause of death, Silchar Medical College and Hospital, Ghungoor, Cachar, Assam, is the nearest and feasible institution to conduct the post-mortem examination in connection with the above case,” he adds.

According to the letter, an FIR has been registered in the case at Jiribam police station under sections 103(2), 64(1), 324(5), 331(4) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, as well as Article 25(IA) of the Arms Act and Article 20 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)

Also read: Manipur police arrest Arambai Tenngol cadre for assaulting two Naga men amid calls for justice