In Manipur, Justice Remains Elusive Even After Death, The Harrowing Story of an 18-Year-Old Who Was Deprived of a Future
In 2023, during the peak of the ethnic conflict in Manipur, I visited a government school in Kangpokpi, where classrooms had been turned into a shelter for displaced people. An 18-year-old woman sat on the floor. Her hands were marked with bruises from the IV drips, as well as from injuries she had sustained when members of Arambai Tenggol—a radical Meitei group—allegedly abducted her from Imphal and drove her to Wangkhei Ayangpeli. In that Meitei-dominated area, she was assaulted and raped for hours.
When I sat down to speak with her, I carried the same questions in my notepad as every other reporter who had come to interview her. When she spoke to me, her voice was not louder than a whisper. I could not muster the courage to look into her eyes. While the job of a reporter in such a situation is to write about the human costs of the conflict, the guilt of asking people to relive their ordeal weighed heavily on me.
The Weight of Witnessing
That evening, when I returned to my hotel in Churachandpur, I barely had an appetite. Over the next couple of days, though I spoke to many women who had gone through similar ordeals, I struggled to get past the trauma of the 18-year-old woman. I left Manipur after a couple of weeks, the image of her frail body against the blazing sun imprinted in my mind.
The journalist’s burden is not just to document but to carry the stories of those who have suffered. Some stories cling to you, refusing to let go. This was one of them.
Over the next two years, though I would call her family intermittently to check on her health, I barely got the chance to talk to the woman again. Her younger sister would occasionally answer my calls to say she was doing better, but most months, the woman struggled to get out of bed. Despite knowing that both her physical and mental health had not improved, her family always sounded hopeful. With time, I moved on to other stories.
But some stories do not let you move on. They wait, patiently, for their reckoning.
The News That Came
In January this year, when I was sitting with friends in Delhi, I saw a news flash that said one of the women who had been raped and assaulted during the first 2023 ethnic clash in Manipur had succumbed to her injuries. I tried to identify her. Over the next few hours, the Internet was full of articles about this tragedy. I kept hoping that my unanswered calls to her family did not necessarily mean that the news was right.
A day later, her father picked up my call to convey the message. Sitting in front of my laptop that day, I felt numb. Did our reports even matter, I wondered. What came of them? A young woman had succumbed to her injuries while endlessly awaiting justice, even as more and more stories of violence and clashes kept coming in from the State.
The Unanswered Question
In the past, whenever her father had asked me when the woman would receive justice, I never had an answer. Sometimes, I would tell him that the authorities would identify the rapists soon; at others, I would just listen to his angry outbursts. Despite several promises of fast-tracking all the cases of rape that took place in Manipur in 2023, the Central Bureau of Investigation is yet to arrest a single person or file a charge sheet in her matter. Meanwhile, the Home Ministry continues to paint a picture of normalcy in the State.
The gap between official narratives and ground reality is vast. While the government speaks of peace returning, families like this woman’s continue to wait for justice. While officials claim that cases are being investigated, no arrests have been made. While the world moves on, the victims and their families remain trapped in a nightmare that refuses to end.
A Moment of Contrast
Days after I learned that she had died, I stood outside the Kartavya Path in Delhi, speaking to groups from various States who had performed at the Republic Day parade. I met a young woman from Manipur. She was also 18 and had just started college. As she gushed about the opportunity she had received to perform in front of the Prime Minister and foreign dignitaries, she reminisced about the past, when her days were not marred by violence.
When she spoke about her hope for a peaceful future in her town, I struggled not to think about the 18-year-old woman I had met in 2023, who had been deprived of a future. Facing the college-going Manipuri dancer, I wished fervently that her dreams would come true.
The contrast was unbearable. One 18-year-old woman, full of hope and promise, dancing on the national stage. Another 18-year-old woman, whose future was stolen by violence, lying in a grave. They were the same age, from the same state. But their trajectories could not have been more different.
The Larger Tragedy
This is not just one story. It is the story of Manipur, where ethnic violence has displaced thousands, where women have been targeted as weapons of war, where justice is elusive and impunity reigns. It is the story of a state caught in a cycle of violence that shows no signs of ending.
The conflict between Meitei and Kuki communities has deep roots and complex causes. But whatever the causes, the human cost is undeniable. Families displaced, lives destroyed, futures stolen. And for the victims, especially the women who have survived sexual violence, the trauma does not end when the cameras leave.
The Failure of Institutions
The CBI’s failure to file a single charge sheet in this case is not just a failure of procedure; it is a failure of justice. When the state promises to fast-track cases and then delivers nothing, it compounds the trauma of victims. When officials speak of normalcy while survivors continue to suffer, they betray the trust of citizens.
The woman’s father asked repeatedly when justice would come. He never got an answer. Now his daughter is gone, and the question remains unanswered.
Conclusion: A Future Deprived
An 18-year-old woman was deprived of a future. She was deprived of justice. She was deprived of the chance to heal, to rebuild, to live. In her death, she has become a symbol of everything that has gone wrong in Manipur.
The college-going dancer I met at Kartavya Path represents hope. She represents the possibility of peace, of normalcy, of a future free from violence. I wish fervently that her dreams come true. But I cannot forget that another 18-year-old’s dreams have already been shattered.
Until Manipur’s women can live without fear, until justice is delivered to victims of sexual violence, until the state truly protects all its citizens, the tragedy will continue. The young woman who died in January is not the first, and unless things change, she will not be the last.
Q&A: Unpacking the Manipur Tragedy
Q1: What happened to the 18-year-old woman described in the article?
The woman was allegedly abducted from Imphal by members of Arambai Tenggol, a radical Meitei group, and driven to Wangkhei Ayangpeli. In that Meitei-dominated area, she was assaulted and raped for hours. She survived but struggled with physical and mental health issues for two years before succumbing to her injuries in January 2026.
Q2: What has been the status of the investigation into her case?
Despite promises of fast-tracking all rape cases from the 2023 Manipur conflict, the Central Bureau of Investigation has yet to arrest a single person or file a charge sheet in her matter. Her father repeatedly asked the journalist when justice would come but received no answer. The investigation remains stalled.
Q3: How does the article contrast official narratives with ground reality?
While the Home Ministry continues to paint a picture of normalcy in Manipur, families like this woman’s continue to wait for justice. No arrests have been made, no charge sheets filed. The gap between official claims of peace and the reality of survivors’ lives is vast and troubling.
Q4: What is the significance of the contrast with the 18-year-old dancer?
The journalist met a college-going Manipuri dancer at the Republic Day parade in Delhi, also 18 years old, full of hope and optimism about her future. The contrast with the woman who died—the same age, from the same state, but deprived of any future—highlights the arbitrary cruelty of the conflict and the theft of potential.
Q5: What larger issues does this story illuminate about Manipur?
The story illuminates several larger issues: the ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities, the targeting of women as weapons of war, the failure of institutions to deliver justice, the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators, and the vast gap between official narratives and ground reality. It shows how trauma persists long after the cameras leave.
