Manipur: Bodies of nine victims handed over to family members in Assam
Postmortem examinations of the bodies were conducted at SMCH in Silchar district bordering Jiribam district of Manipur.
IMPHAL- 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 Silchar Medical Collège and Hospital in Silchar district of Assam 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
More than 220 people were killed and thousands rendered homeless in the ethnic clashes between the Meiteis and Kukis since May 2023.
