Manipur unrest: Bodies of missing Meitei family recovered from Jiribam
The bodies of a woman and two children, believed to be among the six missing Meitei persons, were recovered from a river on the Assam-Manipur border on Friday. Some reports indicate the bodies of the other three were also recovered on Saturday.
At least 17 persons have been killed since November 7. The news about the death of the missing Meitei family has triggered protests in Imphal Valley.
The bodies of a woman and two children were brought to a morgue in Assam's Silchar on Friday night, amid tension in the neighbouring Jiribam district. According to Scroll, the six persons who had gone missing on November 11 were a grandmother, her two daughters and three grandchildren.
Indian Express, quoting an official, reported that the bodies were seen floating in the river, following which Assam Rifles personnel retrieved them.
On November 11, Kuki militants attacked a Central Reserve Police Force post in Jakuradhor, after which ten of them were killed in a gunfight with security forces. Kuki organisations have claimed that the individuals killed in the gunfight were village volunteers— armed civilians who engage in gunfights with opposing ethnic groups.
On Saturday morning, Hmar protestors threw stones at security personnel outside the Silchar Medical College and Hospital when bodies of the ten persons killed in the November 11 gunfight were being taken from there to Manipur’s Churachandpur district.
Nearly 300 people lost their lives in the ethnic violence that broke out between the Meiteis and Kuki-Zo-Hmars in May 2023 with the state government accused of undercounting the death toll. The tensions have divided the state with Meiteis holding the valley and Kuki Zo groups concentrating on the hills.
