Old image falsely claims to show body of Meitei woman raped by Kukis in Manipur

By: Ankita Kulkarni
May 11 2023

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Context

The violence that broke out in Churachandpur, Manipur, on May 3, 2023, between the Meitei community and Christian tribes, the Kukis and the Nagas, has killed at least 60 people in the state, according to a Hindustan Times report. Violent clashes erupted after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was called by the All Tribal Students' Union of Manipur (ATSUM) to protest against the proposal to grant reservations to the Meitei community.

Social media platforms are flooded with several misleading videos and images that claim to show visuals of the violence. One such image shared in a Twitter post claims to show the body of a Meiti woman allegedly sexually assaulted and murdered by the Kuki tribe following the violence in Manipur. The image shows a body wrapped in plastic and a red suitcase in the background. An archived web page of the link shows that the image was posted with the caption: "The Indian army deployed in manipur are too scared of the immigrants because they have better guns’ is what the people have been saying. Meitei Doctors and nurses raped and killed in Manipur and the kuki wearing police uniforms and mass shooting (sic).”  

However, we found that the image is old and unrelated to the Manipur violence.  

In Fact

The viral picture is from 2022 and shows the body of a woman who was the victim of a caste-based killing. We could find the same picture in a local Hindi news report published by Amar Ujala dated November 21, 2022. The image shows a body of a woman who was shot by her parents, packed in a trolley bag and dumped on the Yamuna Express service road in Uttar Pradesh (U.P.). A report by Aaj Tak News also included similar details, and the exact picture as seen in the viral post. The image was also posted by several social media users on Twitter in 2022.

Additionally, we also found an official statement issued by U.P.'s Mathura Police on the case. In the statement, the police said that it was a case of a woman being murdered by her family as they were against her intercaste marriage. This proves that the incident is not related to Manipur ethnic violence.  

Furthermore, a report by a local media outlet in Manipur, Ukhurl Times, quoted a statement by Director General of Police P Doungel, who clarified that no such incident of rape has been reported in Churachandpur amid the recent violence.  

It is evident from the above sources that the image is old. Logically Facts has debunked such similar unrelated images and videos that are viral in connection with the recent Manipur violence.

The Verdict

The image from 2022 depicting an incident of murder is viral, with false claims of sexual violence against the Meitei community in Manipur. It has been incorrectly linked to recent clashes in Manipur. Therefore, we have marked the claim as false.