Why Kuki-Zo women are protesting customary ‘settlement’ of rape, domestic violence cases

On April 8, a 27-year-old woman from Manipur was allegedly killed by her live-in partner in Delhi’s Munirka area.

On the same day, her partner, Jagminthang Haokip, a native of Manipur’s Senapati district, was arrested. Both were Kukis. According to the police, he suspected his partner of having an affair.

As news of the dead spread, a Delhi-based Kuki group intervened. According to a WhatsApp channel run by Kuki-Zos from Manipur, the Kuki Welfare Delhi contacted the woman’s family and suggested that they agree to “a customary settlement”. They advised the families not to share the news of the death or speak to national news channels.

Eventually, the families agreed to bury the case.

An agreement signed by both families in Churachandpur two days after her killing said that the case had been settled according to customary traditions and law. Scroll has seen a copy of this agreement.

“On this day, April 10, 2025, … a settlement has been reached regarding the unfortunate event in Delhi…. This resolution has been achieved through thorough discussion and mutual agreement, in accordance with the customary laws of our forefathers, with the aim of fostering understanding and peace moving forward. As the matter has now been settled, all parties are requested to respect this resolution and refrain from further investigation or discussion of this incident,” the peace agreement read.

Although the Delhi police had filed a first information report, after this agreement it will be near impossible to prosecute the accused, according to lawyers from the Kuki-Zo community.

This was the first of two instances of violence against Kuki women being settled out of court.

On April 11, a 10-year-old girl with mental disability was allegedly raped and murdered in a forest near Leijangphai village in Churachandpur district.

The accused was a 21-year-old man from the Kuki community.

As in the first case, two clan-based organisations stepped in.

At the urging of Zou Sangnaupang Pawlpi and Kuki Kanglai Lawmpi, the two philanthropic organisations of the Zuo and Kuki tribes, the families reached an agreement.

Two leaders of the organisations, who were present at the April 13 settlement meeting held in Churachandpur, told Scroll that “the culprit’s family sought forgiveness from the victim’s family”.

“It was settled as per customary law that they will pay a penalty of Rs 5 lakh to the girl’s family,” said an office-bearer of Kuki Kanglai Lawmpi. “They have paid Rs 2 lakh now, as well as one pig for sacrifice. They will pay Rs 3 lakh later.”

Chinkhenpau, the general secretary of the United Zou Organisation, the apex body of the Zuo tribe, said that the police case will continue, but as far as the victim’s family was concerned, the issue has been settled.

“The FIR has been filed suo motu by the police,” he said. “The law will take its own course. The victim’s family agreed to the peace agreement so that there is no revenge. In this kind of settlement, there is peace.” Another Zuo tribe leader, who was present during the settlement, said the victim’s family may not pursue the case further.

A senior police official from Manipur told Scroll that the case will go on, even if the victims refuse to pursue it. But he admitted that it is difficult to prosecute the accused if the victims do not cooperate.

“Once it is settled, the matter is closed,” Ginza Vualzong, a leader of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum told Scroll. “That’s why the perpetrator can go scot free.”

Usually, such settlements are decided by the elders of the tribe and typically involve the sacrifice of an animal and payment of money.

Both incidents have evoked sharp criticism from women of the Kuki-Zo community.

“The way community elders, in the name of customary law, allow the accused to walk free just by paying some money or butchering a pig or a cow, is so regressive and unconstitutional,” said Hechin Haokip, a women activist from Moreh.

Another woman activist from the community added: “We should not react only when violence against women is done by men outside the community. We must [demand justice] when the assailant is from within the community.”

Similar settlements have been reported in the past from Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. “Customary laws do not work in favour of women,” said Tongam Rina, a journalist from Arunachal Pradesh. “These are patriarchal laws that do not recognise the rights of women, dead or alive. They embolden others to rape and murder, knowing a case can be settled with a few lakhs.”

Families coerced?

In the North East, every tribe has its own customary laws, which are central to its identity. Customary law courts or village courts often adjudicate cases involving two tribal parties on the basis of these traditional laws.

In Kuki society, the village chief, which is a hereditary post, has complete authority over the village affairs. He “has all the power to decide any cases, and the chief’s verdict is final and binding”, scholar S Seikholet Baite has written.

Advocate David J Vaiphei said the customary law stems from generations of tribal customs and practices, where the court of the elders is invested with the powers of the judiciary, legislature, and executive power. “It decides cases, and the decision is taken as binding without having to resort to the state machinery,” he said.

But women activists and lawyers are questioning the contemporary relevance of this process.

“These courts do not have the capacity for scientific investigation,” said Haokip, the women activist. “We don’t have experts in the village court or in the customary court to interrogate the accused. And even in terms of scientific medical examinations, how do we verify the severity of a sexual assault?”

Vaiphei agreed that the customary court lacks the expertise to deal with such cases. “They may think they are capable, but I don’t think so.”

An advocate, who did not want to be identified, pointed out that it is not clear under what circumstances the families of the victims consent to such agreements. “They may feel coerced to comply with the community’s resolution, fearing social ostracism or loss of reputation,” he said. “It diminishes their ability to exercise autonomy and pursue formal legal justice.”

Women protest

Increasingly, such settlements are being opposed by women from within the community.

For instance, a 9-year-old girl was found dead under suspicious circumstances in a Churachandpur relief camp on March 20. A case was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

Soon after, the Zo Women movement, a feminist group that emerged after the ethnic conflict in Manipur, organised protests against the crime in Churachandpur and Delhi.

“The demonstration was to build pressure and out of fear of the expected – that this case would be settled according to customary law,” said a women’s activist from the Zo community.

A police official told Scroll that one person has been arrested.

Many women have also questioned the silence of influential tribal bodies, and organisations formed in response to the Manipur conflict over such settlements.

“There is some frustration in the Zo women groups over why the main community organisations were so slow to condemn this,” said a member of the Zo Women movement. “It feels like a reflection of how cases like domestic violence are not considered community or even legal issues but ‘private’ or family problems.”

Another new group, Young Kuki, on April 11, issued a statement, questioning the “disturbing trend of perpetrators evading appropriate punishment under the guise of outdated customary laws”.

“While we respect the traditions passed down by our ancestors, these laws were designed for a different time,” the statement said. “Applying them to address serious modern crimes such as sexual assault and murder is not only inappropriate but also a mockery of [our] values.”

Hechin Haokip, the activist from Moreh, pointed out that such settlements also deny any psychological help or economic rehabilitation to the victims. “These agreements completely ignore or neglect the welfare or support for the survivor.”

The Young Kuki statement called on the community to “either reform our traditional legal systems or adopt the broader legal frameworks that ensure justice is served.” “Without meaningful change our future generations will lose faith in our customs and deem them unjust or irrelevant,” it said. “By refusing to adapt, we may end up destroying the very traditions we aim to preserve.”

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