Bodies of nine Manipur victims handed over to family members in Assam

Silchar (Assam): The bodies of nine people from Manipur, including those of six abducted and killed in Jiribam, have been handed over to their family members at the Silchar Medical College Hospital (SMCH) in Assam, officials said.

Postmortem examinations of the bodies were conducted at SMCH in Silchar district bordering Jiribam district of Manipur.

The next of kin of the victims, all belonging to the Meitei community, had initially refused to accept the bodies till they got justice. They, however, later agreed to accept the bodies as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is inquiring into the incidents of violence.

The family members were also demanding that those 10 slain Kukis be declared as militants as they had come from Churachandpur to Jiribam with arms and could not be members of an ordinary village defence party.

Officials said that both Assam and Manipur police personnel are escorting the convoy of nine bodies being taken to Jiribam, around 55 km away.

The convoy was stopped at several places along the way as representatives of various Meitei groups offered floral tributes to the deceased.

The bodies include six women and children, who were allegedly abducted from a relief camp on November 11 by Kuki-Zo militants from Jiribam's Borobekra area when a group of Kuki youths were engaged in an encounter with CRPF in which 10 of them were killed.

The six women and children were identified as Yumrembam Rani Devi (60), Telem Thoibi Devi (31) and her daughter Telem Thajamanbi Devi (8), Laishram Heithoibi Devi (25) and her two children Laishram Chingkheinganba Singh (two-and-a-half-years old) and Laishram Lamnganba Singh (10 months).

The bodies of the two other persons are Laisram Baren Maitri (60) and Maibam Kesho (71), both killed by unidentified persons on November 11, while the body of Khundrakpam Athouba (21), allegedly killed in police firing, was recovered on November 17, the official said.

Bodies of these Meitei community members and the 10 Kukis were brought to SMCH for conducting the autopsy and were kept in the morgue after the process was complete.

The bodies of the 10 Kukis were airlifted to Churachandpur on November 16. Violence had escalated in recent weeks in Jiribam which had witnessed relatively fewer incidents during the height of ethnic violence in Manipur since last year. More than 220 people were killed and thousands rendered homeless in the ethnic clashes between the Meiteis and Kukis since May 2023.

The ethnically diverse Jiribam witnessed violence after the mutilated body of a farmer was found in a field in June this year.

Cachar district administration has sounded an alert in the entire district with round-the-clock patrolling initiated in the remote border areas and special commando battalions deployed to prevent outbreak of any untoward incident on Assam's soil, an official added.