Why are so many bodies unclaimed in Manipur? Seven families have some answers

The Churachandpur resident was an ambulance driver for a civil society organisation and on May 3, had gone to Imphal to pick up a patient from the airport. While he was on his way back, violence had already broken out in the border area of Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts.

Said his wife Vungneiniang: “Once they reached Moirang (Bishnupur district), the ambulance was attacked and they took refuge at the police station. On the evening of May 4, he called and spoke to me. He was still there. On May 5 morning, we got a call from a friend at the police station who told us that the station had been attacked and that he was no more.”

All information the family has received till date is from third parties. The family say that a few days later, the ambulance was dropped off till Kangvei, at the border of the two districts by some Meitei Pangals (Muslims), who have relatively free passage between areas dominated by different communities. They told the family that Dallamthang’s body is in the morgue at Regional Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal West.

“But there is no way for us to confirm this. We obviously can’t go to Imphal to see – nobody from our community (of Kukis) can go there after all that has happened. Nor do we have anybody there who can go and check for us,” said Vungneiniang.

Imphal: Tyres being burnt and construction materials piled up in the middle of the road by protestors during a protest, in Imphal, Monday, May 29, 2023. Armed Kuki militants launched co-ordinated attacks in all directions on Sunday in which two persons were killed and 12 injured in different incidents, police said. (PTI Photo)

Dallamnthang had not carried his wallet with him that day, and his Aadhaar card – his primary identity proof – lies at home.

Olivia Lhingneithiem, 23

Olivia, whose family is from Hkhopibung village in the hill district of Kangpokpi, had been living in Imphal for the last year and working at a car wash shop.

Her mother Kimkhohat said that when she called her daughter on May 5, it was received by an unknown woman, who allegedly spoke in “threateningly” in the Manipuri language. When she tried calling again, she said the phone was switched off.

“Around a week later, some Meitei police officers informed some tribal leaders in Churachandpur that she had died, and we came to know through them. We have been told that there is someone at JNIMS, who has also checked and said that her body is there,” said Kimkhohat.

She said that she has assumed her daughter is dead and does not have the heart to keep pushing for more information or clarity. “I have left it to the hands of the tribal leaders and hopefully, we get her body back,” she said.

Florence Nengpichong Hangsing, 26

Florence is from the same village as Olivia and both lived and worked together in Imphal.

“Since they were always together and her phone was switched off, we presumed that they were together and facing the same situation,” said her father Paotinthang.

“Both of them were working in a shop owned by a Meitei. Some people who used to work in the shop contacted the owner and he told them that they were at JNIMS hospital. They told us that the owner went to the hospital and found that Olivia and Florence were dead. But we ourselves cannot go and confirm this or bring her back home,” he said.

Kamminlun Khongsai, 36

Kamminlun was a resident of Churachandpur where he worked as a private driver. On May 3, he joined the Tribal Solidarity Rally in his district which later escalated into violence. His family say that in the aftermath of the rally, he was apprehended by police and taken to Moirang police station.

“Late night on May 4, someone called us from the police station and asked if we could go and pick him up. But we said that was impossible in the middle of all the chaos. The next day, someone who claimed to be from the police station called us and said he is no more. But we don’t even know if that person was really from the police,” said his mother Phaljakim.

Imphal: People try to douse a fire that broke out amid clashes between armed groups and security forces, in Manipur, Sunday, May 28, 2023. (PTI Photo)

“We have heard that the body is in Imphal. We are waiting to see if the situation gets better, then we can go and see for ourselves,” she said.

Jamkhogin Baite, 36

Jamkhogin, a former Lieutenant in the Indian Army who opted for voluntary retirement last year, died in Churachandpur on the night of May 3. His body has been in the morgue at Churachandpur District Hospital ever since. His family says he was shot when he had gone to a Meitei locality in the town that night.

The next morning, the family found his body at the morgue. They say that they have been directed not to take the body from there by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum.

“They have not permitted anyone to take the bodies till we get our demands from the central government, and I think that’s the right decision,” said his sister Helamboi Baite.

Khaijamang Haokip, 40

Khaijamang’s body has been in the morgue at the Churachandpur District Hospital since May 5. His family lived in Nomjang village in the district, and his son Seilen Ngam says that once the violence broke out, his mother and later, he left the village while his father stayed back to defend their community.

On May 5, they received information that Khaijamang had been shot. While his body was brought to the morgue later that day, it has been there ever since.

Seilen says he does not fully understand the reason why it is still kept in the morgue. “I don’t know very clearly but the leaders say that all the tribal people will be buried together. Personally, I want to bury him as soon as possible but it’s not in my control,” he said.

He said the family would visit the morgue every day in the early days, but have stopped going there now.

Alex Jamgouhang Baite, 19

Alex, a first-year student at Churachandpur College, and his cousin Jamkhogin died in the violence on May 3. His father Rambo Vaiphe said that while he found out about the death that midnight, he has still not seen his son’s body, which lies in the morgue at Churachandpur District Hospital.

Rambo was in Delhi at the time — where he worked as a security guard after his retirement from the BSF — and only reached the town on May 13, travelling through Guwahati and Aizawl. By the time he reached, the body had been packed and he was not permitted to see it, but his wife and elder son had already identified it earlier.

“We want a separate administration and till we don’t get it, we won’t remove his body. We will not take the body till the tribals get what they want because he died for his community,” Rambo said, adding that he does not intend to return to Delhi till the issue is resolved and his son is buried.

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There are also families who have no inkling of where their loved ones might be, though they fear the worst. The family of Atom Samarendra, 47, an Imphal West-based central government employee, have been looking for him since he went missing along with his friend Y Kirankumar on May 6.

Both had left Samarendra’s home around 10.30 am in his car. While the last call made by him was at 4.24 pm, the last location the family could find by tracking his phone was for 4.35 pm at Saheibung village, which is at the foothills along the border with the hill district of Kangpokpi.

“We approached the security forces the next day and some of our relatives also joined the search team on May 7 but could not reach the spot because of blockading by Kuki people,” said his father Meghajit Singh.

The family said they have lodged a missing person complaint, convened a joint action committee to find them and have submitted multiple memorandums to authorities for a mass search operation. Their efforts have also included visiting hospitals such as JNIMS and RIMS but they have received no information there either.

“We won’t stop till we find them but till date we haven’t even been able to access their last location,” he said.