Songpi: The Kuki Youth Organization Women’s Council has issued a final and time-bound appeal to the Government of Manipur and the Government of India seeking immediate justice for Kuki women and girls affected by ethnic violence that erupted in Manipur on May 3, 2023. In a strongly worded press release issued on Saturday, the Council said that for more than three years, women and girls have endured wounds that cannot be measured in numbers.
The Council said countless women and girls have faced displacement, insecurity, sexual violence, humiliation, torture, loss of loved ones, destruction of homes and livelihoods, and the trauma of living without justice or security. The press release titled No More Silence, No More Delay, Justice For Kuki Women Now details the horrors endured by women in relief camps and conflict-affected villages.
According to the release, the crimes documented include abduction, gang rape and sexual assault, stripping and parading naked in public as a tool of humiliation, torture and inhuman cruelty, shooting in the head and killing with desecration of bodies, threats and forced displacement from homes, denial of medical care, food, shelter and dignity, and living in relief camps with constant fear and uncertainty.
The Council highlighted a recent case to underline systemic failure. In January 2026, a 20-year-old Kuki survivor of sexual violence from the 2023 conflict died after suffering prolonged physical and psychological consequences of the assault. Despite an FIR filed more than two and a half years earlier, no perpetrator had been identified, arrested or prosecuted at the time of her death. The Council said her death is not just a statistic but a shame on the system.
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The KYO Women’s Council stated that numerous incidents have been documented, reported and submitted to authorities, yet not a single perpetrator has been punished. Instead, the Council alleged bias, delay, denial and complicity, adding that the government has failed in its constitutional duty and the system has collapsed while women continue to suffer.
The Council has placed eight specific demands before the governments. These include time-bound investigation of all pending cases of sexual violence, rape, murder, torture and abduction since May 3, 2023 through a transparent and impartial process, and accountability of perpetrators irrespective of political influence or community affiliation.
File Photo: Olivia Chongloi, Florence Hangshing and Nengpilhing Haokip – three Kuki women who were among hundreds who faced rape, torture and killing during the violence that erupted in Manipur in May 2023.
Other demands include accountability for official failure where police or security personnel failed to protect victims or delayed investigation, justice without further delay by bringing cases before competent courts, protection and dignity for survivors with security, medical treatment, psychological support, legal aid, rehabilitation and compensation, and justice for women who did not survive.
The Council also demanded effective and impartial security arrangements in vulnerable Kuki areas so that women and children can live without fear of renewed attacks, and public accountability from both the Government of Manipur and the Government of India on concrete steps taken since May 2023 to investigate and prosecute crimes against Kuki women.
Issuing an ultimatum, the Council said both governments must respond to the demands within 15 days from the date of issuance of the press release. The Council clarified that it is not demanding revenge or collective punishment, but individual accountability under law and enforcement of the Constitution without discrimination.
The Council warned that if authorities remain silent, delay investigations or fail to provide a meaningful response, the KYO Women’s Council will be compelled to pursue all lawful and democratic means available, including approaching appropriate legal, human rights and constitutional institutions. It asserted that the suffering of women will not be forgotten and their justice will not be abandoned.
