Manipur | Remembering the 20yr old girl, victim of the 2023 ethnic conflict died on Jan 10 waiting for Justice. 3 yrs later the perpetrators walk free. No one arrested.
Her mother, Lhingnei Haokip, told
@newslaundry her daughter’s ordeal. Read 👇🏾
"My daughter was a very lively and outgoing girl before she was subjected to this horrifying brutality. She wasn’t really interested in academics, but she worked at a beauty parlour in Imphal with one of our relatives. She had many friends and often hung out with them. My daughter was always smiling and full of life, but after the incident, she lost her smile.
....My daughter became so traumatised that she confined herself to one room. She completely stopped interacting with everyone. She stopped going out and stopped talking to her friends. Doctors used to visit twice a week for trauma therapy sessions, but my daughter could not recover. I was the only person she spoke to. She didn't leave my side even when we stepped out for 15 minutes.
....For the last two years, she lived in constant fear. She used to tell me that she did not want to live anymore. Once, she told me that everyone knew what had happened to her and that she felt extremely vulnerable because of it. She had nightmares and gradually developed insomnia. She could not sleep out of fear, and because of all this, her health kept deteriorating.
On January 8, my daughter started vomiting and developed diarrhoea. We consulted a doctor and gave her medicines, but within a day, she passed away. It was the trauma and the injuries inflicted on her that affected her health. Over the last two years, she developed a prolonged illness because of what was done to her.
I have only one wish left in life – to see the people who did this to her punished. I want to know who those men were......
I am going to miss my daughter."
Lhingnei Haokip will grieve all her life. Her daughter died waiting for justice. When shielding perpetrators matters more than healing victims, justice becomes rare. And a nation that denies a mother justice can this country still call itself civilised nation?