Manipur on the boil again, tribal woman ‘burnt alive by ultras’
In a shocking incident in strife-torn Manipur, a tribal woman was allegedly burnt to death by militants last night in a village inhabited by the Hmar tribal community in Jiribam district.
The woman from the Hmar tribe was allegedly shot at and then burnt to death as armed militants stormed Zairon village in Jiribam, sources said. Security sources confirmed the attack while the local Hmar organisations identified the victim as 31-year-old Zosangkim, a teacher who lived in the village with her husband and three children. The Hmar outfits alleged she was killed in an attack on the village by “armed Meitei militants”. Hmar tribe comes under the umbrella of Kuki-Zo, which is currently in conflict with the Meitei community in Manipur.
At least six houses were also torched and residents of the village attacked by the armed militants, the police said. “Preliminary reports suggested that several villagers managed to flee during the attack and took shelter in a nearby forest. At least six houses were severely damaged due to the arson. An investigation is underway,” a senior officer said.
Several tribal organisations, including the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) and the Hmar Inpui, condemned the attack and alleged that the Arambai Tenggol, a Meitei activist organisation, was behind the attack.
The Tribune accessed several videos and photographs of burning houses and a charred body but their veracity could not be verified.
Meanwhile, the Jiribam Superintendent of Police wrote to the District Magistrate on Friday, seeking permission to conduct the postmortem of the woman’s body in the neighbouring Assam’s Silchar Medical College as Jiribam does not have proper forensic facilities. Over the last three weeks, various parts of Manipur have again witnessed gunfights and attacks.
Jiribam, near the Manipur-Assam border, has been tense since July last year after clashes between Kuki and Meitei communities started in the district. In a statement, the Hmar Inpui condemned the incident: “This barbaric act serves as yet another chilling reminder of the relentless ethnic-cleansing campaign of the Meitei militants.”
Naga group may resume struggle
Naga insurgent group NSCN-IM on Friday sought a “third party intervention” to find an “honourable political agreement” to end the old Naga conflict and threatened to resume “violent armed resistance” against the government if such a demand was rejected.
