The Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) has vehemently condemned what it called the "disgraceful and unacceptable" statement of Manipur Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam, who has openly declared that efforts are being made to avoid further arrests and crackdowns on Arambai Tenggol (AT) members.
"This is nothing less than a blatant proposal to pardon and protect a blood-stained terror group responsible for some of the most heinous crimes against humanity committed against the Kuki-Zo people," Kuki Inpi Manipur said in a release issued on Wednesday.
KIM stated that Arambai Tenggol is not a "civil society group"; rather, it is an armed, radical Meitei terror group that has orchestrated and executed targeted ethnic violence, including mass rapes, torture, and the burning alive of innocent Kuki-Zo civilians. Shielding such a group, it said, is an insult to every Kuki-Zo victim and a direct endorsement of impunity.
According to KIM, specific barbaric crimes allegedly committed by Arambai Tenggol members include:
- The brutal gang rape of Nengtinlhing Haokip (Lhingnu Haokip), an 18-year-old Kuki girl abducted in May 2023 near an ATM in Imphal. She was allegedly assaulted by Meira Paibis and then handed over to armed, black-shirted Arambai Tenggol members. She was taken to a hilltop in Langol, repeatedly gang-raped, beaten with gun butts, and dumped in a creek. She suffered severe physical injuries and lifelong trauma, and finally succumbed to her wounds on January 10, 2026, dying without justice.
- The gang rape and brutal murder of Olivia Chongloi (Lhingneithem Olivia Chongloi, 21) and her friend Florence Hangshing (Nengpichong Florence Hangshing, 24), both from Khopibung, Kangpokpi district. On May 4, 2023, in Imphal, the two young women, who were working at Gamma Car Wash, were allegedly abducted by members of Arambai Tenggol and associated Meitei mobs, gang-raped, and murdered in cold blood. Their mutilated bodies were reportedly found after the assault.
- The burning alive of Nehmang Kipgen, a hearing-impaired Kuki man from S. Phailengkot village, who was allegedly abducted, had his limbs severed, and was then set on fire by Arambai Tenggol members along with state forces in May 2023.
- The alleged rape, torture, and burning alive of Zosangkim Hmar in Zairawn village, Jiribam, in November 2024. According to KIM, Arambai Tenggol assailants attacked her home, shot her in the leg, subjected her to torture and rape while she was still alive, and then burned her. Her charred body was later found with 99 percent burns and embedded nails.
- The killing and mutilation of Kamlengsat Lunkim (aged 22–25, from Bongjang hamlet), along with Kamminlal Lupheng. KIM alleged that the two Kuki-Zo village volunteers were attacked by Meitei militants, including Arambai Tenggol members, in the Phailengmol area of Kangpokpi district. Their bodies were allegedly dragged with ropes, their arms hacked off with machetes, their faces stomped on, and sprayed with bullets. One victim's palm was reportedly severed and nailed to a tree.
- Facilitation of and participation in the infamous naked parade and gang rape of Kuki-Zo women in B. Phainom village, Kangpokpi district, on May 4, 2023. According to KIM, women were stripped naked, groped, and sexually assaulted in public, while one of them was gang-raped as a mob watched and recorded the incident. The organisation described it as part of a systematic campaign of terror allegedly unleashed by Meitei radical groups, including Arambai Tenggol.
The release stated that such incidents were not isolated acts but formed a deliberate pattern of ethnic cleansing, the use of rape as a weapon of war, and the burning alive of Kuki men, women, and children.
"How can any government, let alone the Home Minister, talk of 'avoiding arrests' for such monsters? This is not governance; this is open complicity and protection of predators," KIM stated.
It further said, "This kind of government attitude—shielding Meitei rapists and murderers while denying justice to Kuki-Zo victims—is exactly why the Kuki-Zo people need a separate administration, safe from Meitei predators and the biased, Meitei-dominated government in Imphal."
The Kuki Inpi demanded the immediate retraction of the statement, full-scale arrests and prosecution of all Arambai Tenggol perpetrators, and an end to what it described as a culture of impunity.
The apex Kuki body stated that the Kuki-Zo people would never accept any pardon or protection for those who "gang-raped our daughters, hacked and burned our brothers and sisters alive, and paraded our women naked.
