IN Manipur, it seems the state has ceased to exist; recent months have seen horrific events with widespread violence against Dalit communities and other minorities reaching horrific levels, with hundreds killed and injured.

The violence has also been gendered: as is so often the case, women are facing the worst. In Manipur, minority women have been raped and publicly humiliated as a weapon of war.

The latest outrage was documented in a viral video widely circulated on social media and reported upon by the international media of two Kuki-Zo women being sexually assaulted, paraded naked and raped, with disturbing footage showing the women weeping, crying in pain and begging their attackers to show mercy.

As more stories emerge, 80-year-old widow Sorokhaibam Ibetombi was burned alive, locked in her home by an armed mob who set it alight, and Thiendam Vaiphei was murdered at the hands of another mob who burned her and cut her throat.

This violence, particularly against women, is sadly not a new phenomenon. A 2014 report by the International Dalit Solidarity Network noted that “violence against Dalit women is systematically utilised to deny them opportunities, choices and freedoms at multiple levels, undermining not only Dalit women’s dignity and self-respect but also their right to development.” The report goes on to argue that: