Nearly three years after surviving one of the most brutal crimes to emerge from Manipur’s ethnic violence, a young Kuki woman has died, her body finally giving up after years of medical complications and psychological trauma that began with her gang-rape in May 2023.
The woman, who was just 18 years old when she was abducted, tortured and raped during the early days of the violence, passed away on January 11 at a government hospital in Churachandpur district. Her family confirmed the death this week. Her identity, age and name are being withheld to protect her dignity.
For her mother, the loss is not sudden - it is the end of a long, exhausting struggle marked by hospital corridors, sleepless nights and a daughter who never truly returned to life after that day. “She survived the attack, but she never recovered from it,” her mother told News The Truth. “Her body kept failing her, and her mind was always trapped in fear. She suffered every single day.”
A Life Interrupted by Violence
In May 2023, when ethnic violence engulfed Manipur, the teenager was working at a beauty salon in Imphal, dreaming of one day opening a small salon of her own. On May 15, she was abducted in broad daylight from an ATM kiosk in the New Checkon area, according to the FIR filed by her family.
What followed was a sequence of violence that would permanently alter her life. The FIR details, horrific and graphic detailed the sequence - she was beaten, forcibly moved across locations, and later taken to a remote hilltop in Bishnupur district. There, she was gang-raped by multiple men. At one point, there was even an argument among her captors over whether she should be killed. The mother recalled, as she was told by her daughter - soon after the ordeal, there was chaos amongst her oppressors over the difference in opinion as whether to kill her or take her along to the next stop. One of the captors had accidentally hit her with their vehicle, pushing her off the hillock. Injured and bleeding, she somehow managed to reach a nearby road, where an auto-rickshaw driver rescued her and took her to a police station. By the next morning, she had fled to Kangpokpi, a Kuki-majority district, seeking safety. But safety did not bring healing.
Years of Treatment, Years of Trauma
From Manipur to Nagaland and Assam, the young woman moved from one hospital to another over the next three years. Doctors treated physical injuries, but new complications kept emerging. She was later diagnosed with uterine fibrosis and other serious health conditions linked to the assault.
Her mother said the physical pain was only part of the suffering.
“She stopped speaking much. She stopped meeting people. She felt she had no value left,” the mother said. “Even when she smiled, it was not real. Inside, she was breaking.”
The survivor reportedly struggled with deep depression, anxiety and emotional withdrawal. Family members said she lived in constant fear, startled by loud noises, and avoided stepping outside the house. A few days before her death, her health deteriorated suddenly. She was rushed to the hospital in Churachandpur, but doctors could not save her.
No Arrests, No Answers
Despite the seriousness of the crime, no arrests have been made so far. The family had filed a ‘zero FIR’ at Kangpokpi police station on July 21, 2023. The case was later transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), along with several other cases linked to the ethnic violence. Yet, nearly three years later, the family says they have received no updates.
“No one has contacted us - not the police, not the CBI,” the mother said. “We don’t know who is investigating or what is happening.” The family did receive some monetary compensation after the new evoked nationwide outrage. “She never spoke to media. She never wanted to share her pain. I have lost my daughter but I know she was never alone in her pain. She wasn’t the only one who was wronged in this violence. Her body is gone but her soul, wherever it is, is yearning for closure - for herself and for several women from Manipur across the either side of the buffer zone. She wanted to live a normal life, she wanted to work, to dream. But that night took everything from her.”, the mother said quietly before hanging up the phone.
Denials and Disputed Narratives
The FIR mentions the alleged involvement of members of Meira Paibis, a Meitei women’s collective, and Arambai Tenggol. However, representatives of both the groups have denied these allegations, calling them false and insisting that Meira Paibis have historically acted to prevent violence and protect women. They pointed to past instances where Meira Paibis protested sexual violence and assisted police in handing over accused persons.
For many in the Kuki-Zo community, the young woman’s death is not just a personal tragedy - it is a reminder of the countless unresolved cases buried under political silence and administrative paralysis. As Manipur continues to grapple with the aftermath of violence that has killed over 260 people and displaced more than 70,000, her death raises an uncomfortable question: how many survivors are still suffering in silence and if they will ever see justice?
