Nengtinlhing Haokip, a 20-year-old Kuki-Zo woman, died on Saturday from injuries sustained during ethnic violence in Manipur. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) described her passing as a somber reminder of the atrocities committed against the community since the conflict started. The ITLF claimed in a news release that a Meitei women’s organization called the Meira Paibis kidnapped Nengtinlhing from an ATM in the New Checkon neighborhood of Imphal during the early days of the unrest. The forum claims that she was thereafter given to Arambai Tenggol with the order to murder her. According to the statement, the woman was transported to Langgol, where she was sexually abused, and then left for dead in Bishnupur. Despite her first survival, she experienced acute uterine issues, psychological anguish, and terrible physical damage. After receiving treatment in Guwahati, she passed away on January 10, 2026.
According to the ITLF, deaths, sexual assault, torture, looting, and forced relocation from the Imphal Valley are all part of a larger pattern of violence against the Kuki-Zo people. It stated that communities had been violently divided, houses had been set on fire, and churches had been desecrated. The forum reaffirmed its call for a separate administrative system for the Kuki-Zo people in order to protect their safety, dignity, and survival, stating that coexisting under a joint administration with the Meitei community had become “impossible” under the current conditions. The ITLF said that a candlelight vigil will be conducted at the Wall of Remembrance on Saturday night at 5 p.m. as a sign of respect, encouraging people to honor the dead and show support for the victims of the ongoing violence.