Imphal- In one other horrifying case of ongoing ethnic violence reported from Manipur after the parading of two bare ladies in Kangpokpi district on May 4, the octogenarian widow of a freedom fighter was locked inside her home and it set on hearth by an armed group in Manipur’s Kakching district.
Belonging to Meitei neighborhood, S. Ibetombi Maibi, the spouse of the liberty fighter S. Churachand Singh, who died few years again at 80, was locked inside her home earlier than the armed assailtants set on hearth her house at Serou village on May 28, in line with a FIR filed lately with Serou police station.
Churachand Singh, who was a member of the Indian National Army headed by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, was honoured by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and awarded Netaji Award by All India Forward Bloc in April 1997.
The tragic incident occurred amidst the ethnic violence in Manipur together with within the Serou village, 48 km from the state capital Imphal.
Burnt bones of Ibetombi Maibi, half-burnt images, medals, mementos of Churachand Singh, many valuables, home supplies, burnt homes and bullet holes on the partitions are actually displaying the undreamed off horror.
“When the heavily-armed assailants attacked our house, my mother-in-law asked me and other neighbours to flee and after some time, come back or send someone to rescue her after the attackers leave the place. Due to her old age and limited mobility, she could not flee. Accordingly, I and the neighbours of three other families ran away, ” Ibetombi Maibi’s daughter-in-law, S. Tampaksana stated.
She stated that after a number of hours, she requested 22-year-old Premkanta Meitei, a relative of Ibetombi Maibi, to rescue her.
Premkanta Meitei stated that when he, together with few others, reached the spot to rescue her, the blaze had engulfed your entire home and the aged girl charred to loss of life. The rescuers had been additionally instantly compelled to flee once more because the attackers once more began firing and he was additionally hit by bullets.
About the May 28 assault, Tampaksana, stated that frightened by the assault they took shelter on the native MLA’s home, the place they reached after operating round two kilometers amidst the extraordinary firing.
“I told Premkanta Meitei to go to the spot along with others to rescue my mother-in-law. But when he reached the spot, everything was finished, only the ashes and debris besides the remains of elderly woman, who was charred to death, were seen, ” Tampaksana stated.
The Serou village was one of many worst-hit areas in the course of the ethnic violence between the valley-based Meiteis and the Kuki-Zo tribals, largely dwelling within the hilly areas of Manipur.
A brief distance away from the village, the native Serou village market resembles a ghost space now.
All native merchants, who lived within the village, have all fled the place and brought shelter within the reduction camps resulting in an absolute silence prevailing within the space.
The over 80-day lengthy ethnic violence, which broke out after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ within the hill districts to protest in opposition to the Meitei neighborhood’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) standing, has thus far claimed over 160 lives, injured over 600 folks of various communities and displaced over 70, 000 folks in addition to destroying a lot of properties and autos.
Local leaders stated that there are a lot of extra horrific incidents that also remained unknown and got here to gentle as tons of of villages remained abandoned and the displaced frightened folks out of worry are reluctant to go to their habitats and villages.