India's Manipur is hot again. It has been alleged that armed extremists have raped and burnt a tribal woman alive.
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On Thursday, his wife was raped and later set on fire by armed men of the Meiti community. News from The Telegraph.
According to the report, the brutalized 31-year-old woman was a school teacher in Zairaun, Hamar tribal village of Ziribam district. She is survived by her husband, one son and two daughters.
The complaint lodged with the police by the woman's husband, Nugurthansang, stated that his wife was raped and later set on fire by armed men of the Meiti community on Thursday.
A police officer told The Telegraph that the dead woman's body is with the family and they are trying to send the body to Silchar in Assam for post-mortem.
He also said, 'The situation is quite tense.
A statement issued by Adivasi Tribal Leaders' Forum 'ITLF' of Churachandpur district claimed that gunmen entered the tribal village on Thursday and opened fire indiscriminately on the villagers. Then burned their houses.
ITLF said that most of the villagers managed to escape into the surrounding forest during the incident, but the 31-year-old woman was detained by armed men. The assailants allowed Nugurthansang's elderly parents and three children aged four to eight to leave, but refused to release his wife. The burnt body of the woman was recovered from inside the house on Friday morning.
Police are yet to confirm how the woman was burnt and how many houses were damaged in the fire. However, the police have received information that at least 20 houses have been burnt.
Kuki-Jo, a civil society organization operating in Ziribam and Ferzal districts, Tribal Tribal Advocacy Committee (ITAC) in a statement condemned the attack and the burning of the woman alive. Apart from this, they demanded immediate arrest of the culprits.
ITAC also said they have no confidence in the Manipur state government, including the state army and police.
Hence seeking the intervention of the Central Government to protect the innocent Kuki-Jomi-Hammers of Jiribam District and Ferjaol District of Manipur.
A police official, who did not want to be named, told The Telegraph that the arson took place just before peace talks between the local Meitei and Hamar communities, initiated by the Jiribam district superintendent of police, began. CRPF, Assam Rifles and police have been deployed to maintain order in the area.
238 people have been killed in clashes between Meitei and other tribes in Manipur since last year. Apart from this, more than 60 thousand people have been displaced.