No one believed us, God made video go viral: Kargil veteran whose wife in Manipur video

The man’s wife, along with two other Kuki-Zomi women, were targeted by a mob on the second day of violence in the state, but a video capturing the brazen sexual assault emerged only on July 19, prompting national outrage and finding resonance in Parliament.

Members of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum take part in a protest rally in Churachandpur.

The 65-year-old Kargil war veteran, whose wife was stripped and paraded by a mob during the May 4 violence in Manipur, has told The Indian Express that “God must have made the video (of the sexual assault) go viral to ensure that the truth comes out”.

The man’s wife, along with two other Kuki-Zomi women, were targeted by a mob on the second day of violence in the state, but a video capturing the brazen sexual assault emerged only on July 19, prompting national outrage and finding resonance in Parliament.

“Till then, no one from the police or government had even called us,” the man, based on whose complaint a zero FIR was registered at Saikul police station in Kangpokpi district on May 18, told The Indian Express.

“Action should have been taken much earlier, but before the video, no one really believed us when we told them what had happened,” he said, sitting inside a college room in Churachandpur town where the women’s families are. The women, meanwhile, are in a “safe zone”.

Now retired, the man has an Army career spanning 30 years. He was 18 when he joined the Assam Regiment as a soldier, and retired in the late 2000s as a subedar with enough medals to make his village proud and inspire the youngsters to join the forces.

He has taken part in several critical operations inside and outside the country — Op Rakshak (counter-terrorism operation in J&K) and Op Rhino across Assam, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, as well as Op Pawan in Sri Lanka as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force.

He is a recipient of several medals including the Sainya Seva Medal, Op Vijay Medal, Videsh Seva Medal and a Special Service Medal.

A former Army officer who was part of the battalion remembered him as a good football player and a down-to-earth person. Lt Col Kaushik Sircar (Retd) recalled him as a relatively new entrant to the unit when it was in Sri Lanka, but a hardened soldier when was serving in Tangdhar with him during Op Vijay.

The 65-year-old said that ever since the incident, he has been receiving calls from officers in his unit as well as the ex-servicemen association.

Since the video emerged around two weeks ago, the lives of the women and their families have been upended. Two of the victims and their families were living in relief camps in Churachandpur, but once the video surfaced, leaders of their tribe moved them to a “safe zone”, the location of which even their immediate family say they are unaware of.

One of the victims, aged 21, had left Churachandpur and was living in her husband’s home in Kangpokpi district. However, following the video, tribal leaders also moved her to a “safe zone”. According to those in the know, she left her husband’s home on July 20 and reached Churachandpur two days later via a journey that involved changing at least four vehicles.

Since July 19, two people from the government have met the victims — Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey and National Commission for Women chairperson Rekha Sharma. A police team recorded their statements last week.

In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court last week, Secretary of Home Affairs Ajay Bhalla had submitted that “due to resistance from civil society organisations in Churachandpur, victims could not be approached by state authorities physically or telephonically till date”.

With tension between the state government and the Kuki-Zomi community, tribal leaders said access to the three women is being “filtered”.

On the day of the sexual assault, the 21-year-old’s father and younger brother had also been killed by the mob. Her mother, still reeling from the loss of both her husband and son, told The Indian Express: “As a mother, I am trying to stay strong so that my daughter will be well and sound. I am heartbroken and the truth is that I have been crying most of the time. There has been a lot of attention and a lot of people coming in the last two weeks. But one thing is that I’m not scared; we have been placed under a lot of protection.”

“It’s hard to imagine how it will ever be possible for the two communities to coexist after all that has happened,” she said.