About thirty months have passed since the Manipur violence began in May 2023. However, in a pitiful state of affairs, innocent lives continue to be lost long after the guns have fallen silent. The recent death of a young Kuki woman Nengtinlhing due to severe medical complications resulting from sexual violence suff in the early days of the conflict is a stark reminder that the consequences of violence linger, often invisibly, long after public attention fades.
The victim, who was 18 at the time, was staying at Chahsad Avenue in Imphal when the violence erupted. According to reports, she was abducted from an ATM point near her locality by four men and later handed over to Arambai Tenggol, an organisation widely accused of orchestrating the violence. At the hands of men who claim to be defenders of Kangleipak, the erstwhile Manipur, she was threatened, abused and gang-raped. By a stroke of fortune, she managed to escape and return home. However, the trauma left her with severe medical complications, eventually leading to her death last Saturday.
Her passing compels a serious reflection on how the Manipur conflict has increasingly taken the form of a “war against women.” The violence was initially justified under what were presented as noble causes by the majority community — the protection of territorial integrity, preservation of the environment, the fight against drugs, and opposition to illegal immigration. Former Chief Minister N. Biren Singh repeatedly articulated these concerns, earning widespread public support. If pursued sincerely and within constitutional limits, these objectives should have found acceptance among Kukis and Nagas as well.
Yet the brutality inflicted upon an innocent young woman such as Nengtinlhing raises troubling questions. What connection did she have with illegal immigration, drug trafficking, or land encroachment? Attempts to dismiss such crimes as isolated incidents or inevitable outcomes of conflict are morally untenable. The near absence of timely legal action, medical care, and institutional support for the victim points to a grave failure of the state and undermines the credibility of the very causes invoked to justify the violence.
What is particularly disturbing is the manner in which administrative and governance failures were redirected into collective blame against an entire community. Issues that could have been addressed through lawful and institutional mechanisms were instead allowed to spiral into mob violence, legitimised in the name of “noble causes” as Thomas Paine once said: “the greatest tyrannies have always been perpetuated in the name of the noblest causes”.
For Kukis and Nagas, the Meitei community, with its centuries-old civilisational legacy, has long been regarded as a pillar of cultural and political authority in the region. With what just happened, the very moral authority that binds communities together associated with the state has been seriously eroded and suffered immense damage which may take generations to heal.
While civilian casualties are an unfortunate reality in conflicts, the targeted sexual violence against Kuki women marks a particularly dark chapter. While Nengtinlhing have taken a fight long enough to recount her ordeal, two other young women — Florence and Olivia — were not so fortunate. They were sexually assaulted by a mob and killed in their rented apartment in Imphal. Another incident that shocked public conscience was the parading of two Kuki women by Meitei men, footage of which later circulated widely. There have also been reports of threats against Kuki women married to Meitei men, forcing many families to flee Imphal and seek shelter elsewhere.
The stories of Olivia, Florence and Nengtinlhing are not merely individual tragedies; they represent a collective moral failure. In each case, the Meira Paibis who should have offered safety to these girls, dragged them out from safety and handed them over to men only to be subjected to unspeakable atrocities.
What do young Kuki women, who came to Imphal for education, work and a dignified life, have to do with wars against drugs or illegal immigration? What message does such behavior send to those who believed that the conflict was a part of a genuine movement to save the state? When women are handed over to men with the intent to unleash sexual violence, it cannot be understood merely as a conflict over drugs, immigration, or land. It stands, tragically, as a sustained assault on women — and redefines the moral collapse of the state’s pride history.
