Manipur: Women again used as targets as fresh violence erupts; Centre rushes 2,000 police personnel

Even as fresh violence has erupted in conflict-ridden Manipur since November 11, the Centre has rushed 20 additional CAPF companies comprising about 2,000 personnel to Manipur.

There has been a spate of fresh attacks and law and order issues in the state, official sources said on Wednesday.

This comes even as a 31-year-old Hmar woman (ethnically related to Kukis) was raped and burnt in Zairawn village in Jiribam district, and soon after another woman farmer belonging to the Meitei community was shot dead as a counter or 'revenge attack' to the Jiribam incident.

The killing of the two women have brought to the fore how women are continuously being used as targets and counter-targets in the Meitei-Kuki conflict, which began in May last year.

Also read: Manipur: Kuki-Zo bodies seek investigation into Jiribam gunfight, hill regions witness shutdown 

Zosangkim, a teacher and mother of three children, was raped and burnt at her residence by suspected members of the radical Metei organisation Arambai Tenggol, who attacked her village Zairawn on November 7. The husband and children managed to escape while the wife was trapped. Her house was also looted and burnt down. The post-mortem report also shows a nail drilled into her left thigh, which proves that she was tortured before she was burnt to death.

Tit-for-tat

After the horrifying Jiribam violence, another woman was killed in Manipur’s Bishnupur district after a group of armed miscreants launched an attack a day later. The incident occurred in Saiton village, in the Bishnupur district (Meitei-dominated area) bordering Churachandpur district (Kuki-Zo dominated area).

The deceased has been identified as Sapam Sophia Leima (34). It was probably a revenge attack, said security forces.

Women continuously are being targetted in this conflict, said a Kuki women's organisation spokesperson to Deccan Herald. Their women have been raped, paraded naked and even set on fire in the most barbaric and inhuman way, she said,

There seems to be no end to their brutality as no strict action has been initiated against such heinous crime so far, added the spokesperson, who pointed out that women enjoy the highest honour in their tribal society and by attacking them the  Meitei groups were hitting them hard.

A Meitei woman's organisation spokesperson also agreed that it was shameful that women had become weapons in this conflict.

In May 4, 2023, two Kuki women were  paraded naked by a mob in Kangpokpi district; in June 4, 2023, a Meitei woman married to a Kuki, her seven-year-old son and a woman relative were burnt alive in an ambulance in Imphal west; on September 1, a Meitei woman was killed by Kuki insurgents in Imphal west.

Also read: Manipur: 11 suspected militants killed in gunfight with security forces

Tensions run high

Meanwhile, tensions are running high in Manipur since last week due to a fresh round of violence in Jiribam.

Ten suspected militants were killed in a fierce gunfight with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Monda (November 11). Insurgents in camouflage uniforms, armed with sophisticated weapons, fired indiscriminately at the Borobekra police station and the adjacent CRPF camp at Jakuradhor in Jiribam district.

A huge cache of sophisticated weapons were also seized by the force following the fierce gunbattle.

After the Monday incident, fresh violence was reported from multiple places in Imphal Valley where armed groups from the two warring sides engaged in exchange of fire, the state police had said.

Additional police force

Sources said out of the 20 fresh Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) companies ordered to be rushed to Manipur, 15 are from the CRPF and five from the Border Security Force (BSF). The sources told PTI that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued orders on Tuesday night for airlifting and immediate deployment of these units.

These units will add to the 198 companies of the CAPFs that are already stationed in the state following the ethnic violence that began in the state in May last year leading to the killing of 200 people.

All these CAPF units will be at the disposal of the Manipur government till November 30 as ordered by the MHA but the deployment is expected to be extended, the sources said.

(With inputs from agencies)