In November 2023, British media reported on using sexual violence within the latest wave of violence in Manipur, India. This follows a battle which erupted in May 2023, described by the U.N. as a “community conflict between the predominantly Hindu Meitei and the predominantly Christian Kuki ethnic communities.” As they added, “by mid-August 2023, an estimated 160 persons had reportedly been killed, mostly from the Kuki ethnic community, and over 300 injured. The conflict also reportedly resulted in tens of thousands of people from the communities being displaced, thousands of homes and hundreds of churches being burnt down, as well the destruction of farmland, loss of crops and loss of livelihood.” However, it didn’t cease there. According to the BBC report, two girls have been allegedly stripped, paraded bare and gang raped by a mob in north-east India. Subsequently, their ordeal was made public in a viral video.

One of the ladies is reported to say: “I was treated like an animal. It was hard enough to live with that trauma, but then two months later when the video of the attack went viral, I almost lost all hope to continue living.” The second girl added: “I find it hard to face other people, even in my own community. My pride is gone. I will never be the same again.” After the assault, each girls needed to flee their cities and now reside in hiding.

More comparable tales are more likely to come to mild.

Indeed, in August 2023, U.N. experts wrote to India in relation to the scenario in Manipur and requested for pressing responses. In a couple of of their recognized circumstances, “a group of drunk Meitei men and boys, some as young as 15 years old, allegedly dragged a woman and a teenage girl and raped them. (…) women were reportedly attacked at their place of work by a mob that was targeting Kuki women. These women were reportedly locked in a room and subjected to physical violence for two hours, and were later found dead.” They additional added, “Women and girls have reportedly been attacked in their homes, dragged in the street, tortured or severely beaten before being raped and killed. One victim was allegedly hacked to death. In some of these cases, the bodies of the victims are yet to be found or recuperated. Reportedly, corpses of dead women have also been burnt by their assailants as part of the attack (as they had not followed the proper burial rites associated with each of the two communities).”

As for now, the scenario has not obtained sufficient worldwide consideration and governments shrink back from partaking on the problem. In response to the issues raised by U.N. specialists, the Government of India, in a letter dated October 25, 2023, responded that “recognizing the need for a highly skilled and well—equipped investigative agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to effectively apprehend and prosecute the offenders, the State Government recommended the transfer of 27 cases, including those involving heinous crimes against women and children, to the CBI, which was accepted. (…) The Government of India has also appointed a Commission on Enquiry headed by a retired Chief Justice of the High Court, to inquire, inter alia, the causes and spread of violence. Through this inquiry, the sequence of events leading to and all the facts relating to large-scale violence will be brought out besides identifying those responsible for the violence.”

Another vital subject raised by U.N. specialists issues misinformation and incitement to violence, which accompanied the deteriorating scenario in Manipur. As they identified, “Violence has been incited by campaigns of disinformation, which have been used by the perpetrators to justify the atrocities against Kuki women. (…) Furthermore, some government officials of Manipur were reportedly involved in the disinformation campaigns against the Kuki ethnic minority community and particularly against women. Hate speech allegedly aimed at inciting violence and genocide against the Kuki ethnic minority community reportedly spread online and offline. Reportedly, one of the of the slogans made against the Kuki who were being attacked was ‘Haomacha Hatlo’ which translates into ‘kill smelly tribal children.’ They reportedly warned of a possible civil war, where the Kuki community would not be able to defend themselves and would be wiped out.” These cases of misinformation, hate speech and incitement to violence are extremely regarding, particularly as a few of them go alongside the traces of genocidal incitement. All such reviews should be urgently investigated and investigated in opposition to the danger components and early warning indicators of genocide and different atrocity crimes. The subsequent months will see whether or not the inquiry established by the Government of India can ship this work. If not, worldwide responses, together with via the U.N. must be thought of, for instance, comparable to an International Commission of Inquiry.

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