autopsies-of-5-jiribam-abductees-completed-reports-awaited

The post-mortem examination of five bodies of individuals who went missing from Manipur’s Jiribam district has been completed at Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH), a state-run facility in Assam.

 

The five individuals, part of a group of six allegedly abducted by Kuki-Zo militants from relief camps in Jiribam's Borobekra area on 11 November, were found in highly decomposed states in the Jiri and Barak rivers over the past few days.

 

The deceased include three women and two children, all from the Meitei community.

 

According to sources, the bodies were transferred to SMCH for autopsies, which have now been completed.

 

“The post-mortem examination of all five bodies has been done in SMCH. The doctors concerned are in the process to prepare the report,” a source informed.

 

Manipur Police are expected to facilitate the repatriation of the bodies to their families, though the timeline remains uncertain.

 

Efforts are ongoing to locate the sixth individual from the group, with Assam Police conducting search operations in the Barak River.

 

A senior officer from Assam Police Headquarters confirmed, “We have been told by Manipur Police that those six persons were most likely killed and thrown into the river. Already two bodies, which came floating from Jiribam, were fished out yesterday.”

 

The remains were identified as Yurembam Rani (60), Telem Thoibi Devi (31), her daughter Telem Thajamanbi Devi (8), Laishram Heithoibi Devi (25), and her two children, Laishram Chingkheinganba Singh (2.5 years old) and Lamngaba Singh (8 months).

 

The discovery has sparked outrage, with hundreds of Meitei men and women gathering for a candlelight protest at the Khudiram Bose statue in Silchar on Sunday night.

 

The protestors decried the abduction and suspected murder of the six individuals.

 

The escalating violence in Jiribam, which had largely escaped the ethnic unrest engulfing other parts of Manipur, has raised concerns.

 

Security measures have been intensified in the border areas of Jiribam and Assam’s Cachar district, with round-the-clock patrols in place.

 

Jiribam’s ethnic tensions have simmered since the discovery of a mutilated farmer’s body in June.

 

Over 220 lives have been lost, and thousands have been displaced in ethnic clashes between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and hill-based Kuki-Zo groups since May last year.