New Delhi: No eyeballs, bullet wounds, and a crushed skull—horrific details have emerged from the post-mortem report of three more victims of the violence in Manipur’s Jiribam. The bodies of the victims, which includes two minors, were recovered from Assam’s Barak River.
All the three bodies, which were found infested with maggots, arrived 15 November at the Silchar Medical College Hospital (SMCH) in Assam’s Cachar district. The autopsy reports of the three others, including a child, were released last week.
Laishram Lamnagamba (10 months), Telem Thajamanbi Devi (8 years) and Telem Thoibi (31 years), along with three others, were abducted by suspected Kuki militants from Borobekra area in Jiribam district on 11 November.
The body of the 10-month-old Lamnagamba was found wrapped in polythene in an advanced state of decomposition. The post-mortem revealed missing eyeballs, and bruises on the forehead, nasal bridge, and cheekbones. Additionally, a bullet wound measuring 0.4 cm was found at the back of the left knee.
A “chop wound”, measuring 7 x 3 cm, extended into the chest cavity of the infant. The injury, the report said, originated at the sternum (the central chest bone) and fractured the second, third, and fourth ribs on the left side, also causing severe damage to both lungs.
Thoibi, the infant’s aunt, had three bullet injuries on the chest, abdomen, and lower back. Her skull, it said, had been crushed using a blunt object, leading to fractures and “loss of brain matter”.
Her nasal bone was fractured at the forehead level, while her forearms were severely damaged. By the time her body was discovered, her eyes had decomposed. Her body was found covered with a bedsheet in a state of partial undress.
Thoibi’s daughter Telem sustained bullet injury on the left side of his chest.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the probe of three cases, including the abduction and killing of the six civilians, after directives from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The autopsy report of the other three members—Chingkheinganba Singh (3 years), L. Heitonbi Devi (25 years), and Y. Rani Devi (60 years)—had also revealed similar wounds. All six, members of a Meitei family, were abducted from a relief camp near the Borobekra police station.
Chingkheinganba’s right eye was missing, and his body bore multiple lacerations around the eyes and chest areas, according to autopsy findings. He also suffered a skull fracture with the brain membrane missing, suggesting a fatal injury caused by a blunt object.
His mother, Heitonbi, sustained four gunshot wounds. Additionally, she had deep cuts around her thighs, elbows, knee joints, and wrists, highlighting the brutal nature of the attack. Rani, the child’s grandmother, suffered five bullet wounds—one in the skull, two in the chest, one in the abdomen, and one in the arm. Her skull was fractured.
Tensions have escalated in the Jiribam region since 7 November, following the killing of a Hmar woman burned alive by armed assailants, along with the torching of at least a dozen homes.
In response to the rising violence, additional companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) were rushed to Imphal, just a day after an additional 11 companies had been deployed.
The Manipur government has extended the suspension of mobile internet for two more days until 29 November in nine districts of Imphal West, Imphal East, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Kakching, Kangpokpi, Churachandpur, Jiribam, and Pherzawl.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: Bodies of woman, 2 kids found near river in Manipur’s Jiribam, cops suspect were among 6 ‘abducted’
I hope, perhaps in vain, that this tragic incident will serve as a wake up call for all of us. Let us stop weaponizing our respective faiths. Let us look at one another as human beings. Let us stop being played by politicians who seek to exploit and widen our differences for short-term gain.
Further, Manipur should be placed under President’s rule and the rule of law should be enforced strictly, without any bias. It is the only defense of the helpless against such barbarism.