A Nepali-origin man married to a Kuki woman was allegedly abducted, blindfolded, tied up and brutally assaulted for hours by a group of Liangmei Naga volunteers along with suspected members of Arambai Tenggol at Kanglatongbi in Imphal West district on May 19.
The victim, identified as Ramesh Bhandari, who after marrying a Kuki woman formally embraced Christianity and legally adopted the name Thangtinlen Doungel, is a registered Internally Displaced Person (IDP) under Saitu Sub-Division.
According to the family, the incident occurred in broad daylight when he went to Kanglatongbi Bazar Board to purchase rice for his family.
He was later rescued following the intervention of Gorkha community leaders and was handed over to his wife after hours of alleged torture and illegal confinement.
Deeply shaken by the incident, the victim’s wife, Nemlam Doungel, condemned the assault in the strongest possible terms, describing it as an inhuman act of brutality against an innocent civilian struggling to survive displacement and ethnic violence.
“My husband left home only to buy rice and returned with bruises all over his body,” she said.
Narrating the family’s background to “set the record straight,” Nemlam stated that her husband originally belonged to the Nepali community and was a resident of Koubru Laikha, while she hails from Maphou Kuki Laikoching village in Kangpokpi district.
“After our marriage in 2012, we lived in my village. My husband voluntarily embraced Christianity with the consent of his family and legally adopted a Kuki name. His name was officially changed from Ramesh Bhandari to Thangtinlen Doungel by taking my clan name, and all his official documents, including his Aadhaar Card, were subsequently updated in 2016,” she said.
She further stated that the family was displaced following the outbreak of the Kuki-Meitei conflict and had taken shelter first at N. Songlung and later at Gamnom Saparmeina.
“We work in a water bottling firm and supply water in Saparmeina and adjoining areas to earn our livelihood,” she added.
Recounting his ordeal, the visibly traumatised victim alleged that he was assaulted solely because he carried a Kuki identity.
“I went to Kanglatongbi Bazar Board to buy rice. The shop owner told me to first obtain permission from volunteers monitoring the transportation of essential commodities towards the Kangpokpi side at Kanglatongbi Bridge,” he said.
“It was around 11:30 am when I approached them. They asked for my Aadhaar Card, but I had forgotten to carry it. They then snatched my bag and found vehicle documents bearing my Kuki name,” he recounted.
“Immediately, they blindfolded me, tied my hands behind my back and took me to a house where they started beating me mercilessly. They suspected me because I bore a Kuki name,” he alleged.
Despite repeatedly explaining that he was born into a Nepali family but had legally changed his identity after marriage and conversion to Christianity, he alleged that the assailants continued torturing him.
“They kept interrogating me and repeatedly assaulted me even after I told them the truth. They took me to three different locations, but I could not identify the places because I remained blindfolded throughout,” he said.
According to him, he was finally released around 4:30 pm after intervention by Gorkha leaders, who later reunited him with his wife.
He was subsequently taken to a local hospital where he received medical treatment for multiple injuries.
The couple has one son studying in Class VI at Saparmeina.
The incident has sparked strong condemnation from members of the displaced Kuki-Zo community, who described the assault as a “barbaric act against humanity” and an alarming example of civilians being targeted on the basis of identity amid the continuing ethnic unrest in Manipur.
Community members said the alleged abduction, blindfolding, physical torture and prolonged illegal detention of a displaced civilian trying to procure food supplies represented a grave violation of basic human rights and human dignity.
The Hills Journal
K. Salbung, Churachandpur
Manipur-795128
