Staff Correspondent, chtnews
Saturday, August 16, 2025
Four Bawm women have not been released on bail as the Chamber Court has stayed the bail order issued by the High Court.
The affected women are — Lal Tlanh Kim, Partha Jual, Tina, and Mallory. Among them, three are students, and one has been working with an NGO for the past 13 years.
According to reports, after their bail pleas were rejected in both Magistrate and Sessions Courts in four separate cases, they finally appealed to the High Court. On May 26, 2025, the High Court granted them bail.
However, on June 3, 2025, the Chamber Court stayed (put on hold) the High Court’s bail order. As a result, they have not been released from prison.
Earlier, ten Bawm men, who were accused in the same cases, were granted bail by the High Court. Therefore, the families of these four women were hopeful that they too would be granted bail. But the Chamber Court’s stay order dashed those hopes.
Legal procedures are reportedly underway to bring the case of the four Bawm women back to the High Court. However, their families have nearly been financially ruined in the process of pursuing this prolonged legal battle.
Politically conscious circles believe that the denial of bail to these four women is not only unjust but also deeply shameful for the state. They question: What message is the state trying to send by preventing their release on bail?
It is worth noting that in early April 2024, following a dramatic bank robbery incident in Ruma and Thanchi, the state’s joint forces, under the guise of an anti-KNF (Kuki-Chin National Front) operation, arbitrarily arrested Bawm men, women, children, and the elderly — filing false cases and sending them to prison. So far, three Bawm men have died in prison due to lack of proper medical treatment.
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