“The video hurts so much, I cannot find the words”

The family of the women in the Manipur video recounts its ordeal

31 July 2023
The uncle of the 21-year-old survivor from the gruesome Manipur viral video looks at an image of his wife sowing paddy in their village. A mob of Meteis attacked their village in early May. Members of the survivor's family, including her aunt, her uncle and her cousins, have since been staying in Delhi.
The uncle of the 21-year-old survivor from the gruesome Manipur viral video looks at an image of his wife sowing paddy in their village. A mob of Meteis attacked their village in early May. Members of the survivor's family, including her aunt, her uncle and her cousins, have since been staying in Delhi.

LIKE MOST PEOPLE, the 52-year-old Vaiphei woman saw the viral video when it emerged online in early July. The video had been shot in Manipur, in early May this year. It was gruesome—two Kuki-Zo women, who had been stripped naked, could be seen being sexually assaulted by a group of men who were later identified as Meiteis.

The video went viral within minutes of its release. It immediately became emblematic of the ethnic violence that had been unfolding in Manipur for two months, where the dominant Meitei groups had disproportionately targeted Kuki-Zo tribe communities, leading to the deaths of close to one hundred and eighty people.

The 52-year-old and her family, too, had fled Manipur in early May. For her, however, the video meant much more. The young woman in the video was her 21-year-old niece. The other woman in the video was also a relative.

Kim Vaiphei is a research scholar.

Damlemsang Vaiphei is an independent visual journalist. His work focusses on outdoor sports, lifestyle, culture, heritage, identity and tradition.

Keywords: Manipur Kukis Meiteis
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