Thangjam Manoroma was the custodial rape victim of Manipur, who was brutally murdered by the armed forces of 17, Assam Rifles stationed in Manipur.
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The 32 year old woman named Thangjam Manorama alias Henthoi was brutally tortured and allegedly executed by personnel of the paramilitary force of 17 Assam Rifles stationed in Manipur, after she was picked by them on the early hours of 11 July 2004.
According to the victim's family, troops of the 17 Assam Rifles along with two Manipuri speaking people came to their house in Bamon Kampu, Imphal East District around midnight of 11 July 2004 and they broke the door and entered the house. At that time, Manorama was sleeping in her room. When the security personnel found her, they dragged her out from her bed and beat up the family members when they tried to stop them. Then they locked the house door from outside and brutally assaulted Manorama after blind folding her and tying her hand and feet.
At around 3:30 a.m. of July 11, the security personnel took Manorama along with them. They issued a memo of arrest to the family. In the memo of arrest, Havildar, General Duty of the Assam Rifles Suresh Kumar (Army no. 173355) and Riflemen T. Lotha (Army no. 173916) and Ajit Singh (Army no. 173491) put their signatures as authority and witnesses. According to the memo of arrest, no incriminating documents or articles were found with Manorama at the time of her arrest. The army personnel also forced the family to sign on some papers that they do not know about. The army personnel told the family that Manorama would be handed over to the Irilbung police in the morning. A report filed at the Irilbung Police Station in the early morning of 11 July 2004 indicated that Manorama was taken by the Assam Rifles personnel.
However, the bullet ridden body of Manorama was found at around 5:00 p.m. on 11 July 2004 by the villagers at Keirao Wangkhem Road near Ngariyan Maring Village, about four kilometers from the family's house. When it was found, the body wore no proper clothes. There were finger-scratch marks were found all over the body and a gashing wound probably made by knife was found on her right thigh, too. Several fatal bullet wounds were seen on her back, the upper buttock and the genitalia. Manorama's family strongly believes that she had been raped and then killed by the army personnel.
A post-mortem on the victim's body was conducted on July 11 at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal but the victim&'s family insisted that it was not conducted properly according to the guidelines laid down by the National Human Rights Commission. Until now, the family has been refusing to receive the body calling for proper and independent post-mortem and the victim's body is still in the RIMS morgue.
However, the official spokesman of 9 Sector Assam Rifles said on July 11 that Manorama was a member of the banned Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) and was shot dead when she tried to flee while leading the Assam Rifles to a PLA hide out. The spokesman contradicted the memo of arrest given to the victim's mother saying that a wireless radio, a hand grenade and sheaf of incriminating documents were seized from Manorama at the time of her arrest.
Several women's groups called a 48-hour general strike the day after Manorama's body was found, bringing normal life in the state to a grinding halt for two days until July 12. On July 15, hundreds of women had stormed the Assam Rifles headquarters in Imphal, with at least 40 parading naked and holding placards that read: "Indian Army rape us" and "Indian Army takes our flesh.".[2]
| “ | "It is better to protest naked than allow the soldiers to kill and rape our women." | ” |
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— Memchaoubi Devi, president of the women's rights group Porei Lemarol Meira Phaibi Apunba Manipur[3]
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Curfew was imposed in Greater Imphal area and extended to Bishenpur and Thoubal Districts of Manipur, India since 11:00 a.m. on 15 July 2004 in wake of widespread public protests. However, again large number of people came out on the streets on July 15 defying the curfew that caused street battles between the people and Manipur police, Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel. The eyewitness confirmed that uniformed and armed central security forces personnel were also dispatched in the curfew areas. The people including women continued to go out on the streets and joined the demonstration on 16 July and over 100 people were injured in the police firing on July 16, while the police tried to disperse the people at various places including Kongba, Sangakpham, Tera, Uchekon and some on the outskirts of the state capital using tear gas and rubber bullets. The injured were rushed to the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital and the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences hospital. Both the hospitals were packed with injured people and their relatives and friends. There was complete chaos in the hospitals as so many injured persons were brought in.[4]
After facing huge resistance of the people, the Chief Minister of Manipur, Okram Ibobi said on 16 July 2004 that the government would investigate this case and punish the Assam Rifles personnel involved in the killing of Manorama. Accordingly, Lt. Gen. Daljeet Singh, Corp Commander was summoned by the Chief Minister. The commanding officers of the 17 Assam Rifles were also instructed to hand over the three persons who had signed the memo of arrest for interrogation.
The military though did not agree the incident in total, agreed to cooperate with a judicial inquiry. The perpetrators were kept away from duty until the completion of judicial inquiry which started on 12 July 2004.[5]
The state government then set up an inquiry commission under the chairmanship of retired district and session judge C. Upendra. The reports of the Inquiry Commission were submitted to the state government on November 22, 2004.
However, the Assam Rifles filed a case to the Guwahati High Court terming the inquiry conducted by the state government upon the armed forces as illegitimate. The state government as well as the victim's family had also filed cases to the High Court.
The ruling of the Guwahati High Court made on June 23, 2005 said that State Government had no authority to institute such commission against the central armed forces, under the provisions of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, but the reports of the Inquiry Commission should be submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Union Home Secretary should examine the report and subsequently take up actions against any personnel of Assam Rifles if found guilty. The ruling of the High Court was not welcomed by any party including Assam Rifles, state government and victim'ss family. They further filed appeals to the Guwahati High Court regarding the case.[6]
The ruling of Justices Amitava Roy and B. D. Agarwal at Guwahati High Court on August 31, 2010 has allowed the State Government to open and act upon an inquiry report on the facts and circumstances leading to the brutal killing and rape of Thangjam Manorama Devi by Assam Rifles soldiers.[7]