Imphal, April 28 Manipur Police on Monday arrested a man belonging to the Meitei community allegedly for severely torturing his wife, who belongs to the tribal Kuki community, officials said.
A police official said that the accused, Inaocha Khaidem, was arrested by the police after an FIR on domestic violence was registered at the women's police station in Churachandpur district.
In the FIR, it was alleged that Khaidem and his family members tortured the 21-year-old Kuki woman, who married the detainee a few years back. The woman is currently undergoing medical treatment at the Churachandpur district hospital.
The officials said that the investigation of the case is in progress.
The Kuki Women Organisation for Human Rights (KWOHR) has strongly condemned the “barbaric and inhumane acts perpetrated against the Kuki woman by her husband and members of the Meira Paibis (women vigilantes)”.
KWOHR General Secretary Kimneihoi Lhungdim said that the Kuki woman, originally belongs the Tangjing areas of Bishnupur District and residing in New Checkon in Imphal.
“She endured severe physical and psychological torture at the hands of her husband and Meira Paibis. She was brutally beaten, tied to a bed with her hands and legs bound, and left without food and water for three days,” a statement of the KWOHR said.
KWOHR added that on Sunday, the woman was abandoned at Ningthoukong Gate, where a neighbour came to her aid and transported her to a Kuki-inhabited village. Upon her arrival, she collapsed from exhaustion and injuries. Her family discovered bruises covering her entire body, the result of days of extreme violence.
They said that in 2023 after the ethnic violence broke out, the women had already survived an attempted murder by members of the Meitei radical group ‘Arambai Tenggol’, who slit her throat and left her by the roadside.
She survived due to the intervention of the Manipur Police and timely medical treatment.
The KWOHR expresses deep disappointment that the ‘Meira Paibis’, a group historically formed to defend the rights and dignity of women, have turned into the instruments of ethnic hatred and violence.
“As the ethnic cleansing of Kuki communities by Meitei groups continues, Meira Paibis have repeatedly been complicit in acts of violence, including the rape, torture, and killing of Kuki women and girls,” the KWOHR said and urged all concerned and human rights organisations to strongly condemn these ongoing atrocities in Manipur.
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