Woman killed in fresh Manipur violence

Kuki woman killed in Manipur, sparking tensions between Meitei and Kuki communities along the buffer zone.

A Kuki woman was killed in Manipur’s Churachandpur district on Thursday (June 19, 2025), a day after suspected extremists fired at and injured a Meitei farmer in the adjoining Bishnupur district.

There were no official statements on either incident, but the Kuki Women’s Organisation for Human Rights (KWOHR) blamed the death of Hoikholhing Haokip of Langchingmanbi village on Meitei militants.

In the afternoon of June 18, a man identified as Ningthoujam Biren was injured after suspected Kuki extremists fired at farmers on the border between Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts.

Eyewitnesses said Mr. Biren and two other farmers were working on a paddy field at Phubala in Bishnupur district when five rounds were fired at them from a hillock in the adjoining Churachandpur district. “He was taken to the district hospital after a bullet struck his left forearm,” a villager said.

The Phubala villagers slammed the government for failing to ensure the security of the farmers working close to the vulnerable “buffer zone”, which separates the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley from the surrounding hills where the Kuki-Zos are in the majority.

After the incident, angry Bishnupur locals blocked a highway leading to Churachandpur, demanding action against armed Kuki fighters. A women’s group threatened a total shutdown across the Imphal Valley from Friday (June 20, 2025) if top State government officials did not visit the affected area.

In a statement, the KWOHR condemned the killing of Ms. Haokip allegedly by Meitei militants.