From Churachandpur to Bengaluru: Manipur woman’s ‘domestic horror story’ inside an IIM professor’s home

A 23-year-old woman from Manipur has alleged that she endured years of physical abuse, confinement and intimidation while working as a domestic help at the residence of a professor at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), in a case that has sparked outrage among Northeastern community groups in Bengaluru and raised uncomfortable questions for one of India’s premier academic institutions.

 

The woman, identified by the pseudonym Naina, hails from Churachandpur district in Manipur and had reportedly been employed at the professor’s residence since 2019 through a placement agency. 

 

An FIR was registered at Bengaluru’s Mico Layout Police Station on May 6 under Sections 115(2) and 127(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 — provisions related to voluntarily causing hurt and wrongful confinement — though no arrests had been made till the filing of this report.

 

The accused named in the FIR are Prof Amar Sapra, a faculty member in IIM Bangalore’s Department of Production and Operations Management, and his wife, who is associated with a nursery franchise operating within the IIMB campus.

 

According to members of the Kuki Students’ Organisation Bangalore (KSOB), the case surfaced after the woman allegedly escaped from the residence on May 4 and approached a neighbouring professor’s family for help. She was reportedly exhausted, hungry and emotionally distressed.

 

KSOB president Seilalmuon Haokip said the woman told them she had been subjected to repeated assaults, denied proper food and medical treatment, and prevented from contacting her family for extended periods. Her mobile phone was allegedly confiscated, and she was not allowed to move freely outside the campus premises.

 

“She had been living under constant fear,” Haokip said, adding that the organisation intervened after the woman contacted her family using a neighbour’s phone.

 

In her statement, Naina alleged that her workday often began around 6:30 am and continued past midnight. She claimed the abuse intensified over the years and that she was frequently assaulted by the professor’s wife.

 

“Even when I was sick, I was not allowed to rest,” she reportedly told activists assisting her. “I was accused of pretending to avoid work.”

 

The FIR also reportedly includes allegations that she was physically assaulted in April this year during a late-night altercation.

 

KSOB alleged that the agency later disowned responsibility despite continuing to receive payments linked to her employment.

 

The woman, the eldest among three siblings, is reportedly the sole earning member in her family. She said she had not returned home since attending her father’s funeral last year and now wishes to return home to Manipur following the ordeal.

 

The case has triggered sharp criticism from community organisations and student bodies, many of whom questioned why the FIR was registered only under relatively minor provisions related to voluntarily causing hurt and wrongful confinement. (BNS 2023) (U/s-115(2),127(4)).

 

Activists and community leaders have demanded the inclusion of sections related to atrocities against Scheduled Tribes and offences involving harassment of women, alleging that the current charges dilute the seriousness of the allegations.

 

The allegations have also placed IIM Bangalore under scrutiny, with questions being raised over whether the institution initiated any internal inquiry after the complaint surfaced. Neither the institute nor the accused couple had publicly responded to the allegations till the time of publication.

 

Police officials have reportedly informed KSOB that a spot verification would be conducted on May 11 in the presence of the complainant and organisation representatives. According to the group, investigators indicated that legal notices would first be served to the accused before any further action is taken.

 

For now, the young woman remains displaced and uncertain about her future.

 

But within Bengaluru’s Kuki community, the case has already become a rallying point — not just about one survivor’s allegations, but about the larger vulnerability of migrant domestic workers navigating invisible labour inside elite urban spaces.