NINETEEN-year-old Angel* from Manipur is filled with terror every time she hears the revving of a car or spots one, especially if it’s a white four-by-four. She recalls how her attackers had come in white and purple Mahindra Bolero vehicles on May 15, 2023—a fortnight after ethnic clashes broke out between the Kukis and the Meiteis in Manipur—when she, a Kuki, was abducted from outside an ATM in East Imphal where she had gone to withdraw cash. Then 18, Angel was assaulted all night by mobs comprising Meitei men and women before being gang raped by unidentified armed men. She did not tell anyone about her ordeal till July, when inside a relief camp in Kangpokpi district where she and her family had taken shelter, Angel came across “that horrible video”. Her eyes welled up and a sharp pain seared her chest as she watched the video of the two women being assaulted and paraded naked by a mob. Though she did not know the women, she knew instantly what they had gone through. “I decided to fight for justice, not just for me but for all the women who faced this trauma,” she says.
Justice, however, remains elusive even after a year of national protests, international outrage, political mudslinging and interventions by the Supreme Court and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). None of Angel’s attackers has been arrested or even identified. She isn’t the only one. A majority of the survivors of sexual violence or kin of victims from the tribal Kuki-Zo communities, disproportionately targeted in the ethnic clashes, have so far received no relief or reassurance.
この記事は Outlook の September 11, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Outlook の September 11, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Trump's White House 'Waapsi'
Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election may very well mean an end to democracy in the near future
IMT Ghaziabad hosted its Annual Convocation Ceremony for the Class of 2024
Shri Suresh Narayanan, Chairman Managing Director of Nestlé India Limited, congratulated and motivated graduates at IMT Ghaziabad's Convocation 2024
Identity and 'Infiltrators'
The Jharkhand Assembly election has emerged as a high-stakes political contest, with the battle for power intensifying between key players in the state.
Beyond Deadlines
Bibek Debroy could engage with even those who were not aligned with his politics or economics
Portraying Absence
Exhibits at a group art show in Kolkata examine existence in the absence
Of Rivers, Jungles and Mountains
In Adivasi poetry, everything breathes, everything is alive and nothing is inferior to humans
Hemant Versus Himanta
Himanta Biswa Sarma brings his hate bandwagon to Jharkhand to rattle Hemant Soren’s tribal identity politics
A Smouldering Wasteland
As Jharkhand goes to the polls, people living in and around Jharia coalfield have just one request for the administration—a life free from smoke, fear and danger for their children
Search for a Narrative
By demanding a separate Sarna Code for the tribals, Hemant Soren has offered the larger issue of tribal identity before the voters
The Historic Bonhomie
While the BJP Is trying to invoke the trope of Bangladeshi infiltrators”, the ground reality paints a different picture pertaining to the historical significance of Muslim-Adivasi camaraderie