“Kidnapped, Murdered. What Wrong Did They Do”: Parents Of Manipur Teens To NDTV

Imphal/New Delhi:

The parents of a 17-year-old student killed by armed miscreants in ethnic violence-hit Manipur had been putting a plate of breakfast every morning at his table for over two months, hoping he would return home. They will stop serving food at his table now, the devastated parents told NDTV at their home in the state capital Imphal.

The teen, along with a girl of the same age, had gone missing on July 6. Photos of their bodies slumped on the ground in what appears to be an armed group’s camp surfaced on social media yesterday, following which the Manipur government in a statement assured swift action.

“Has my son or the girl, someone’s daughter, done anything wrong? Did they harm anyone? They were only commuting when they were kidnapped and brutally murdered later,” Phijam Ibungobi, the father of the 17-year-old student, told NDTV, holding a framed photograph of his son.

The photos that surfaced on social media show the two students sitting at the grassy compound of what appears to be a makeshift jungle camp of an armed group. The girl is in a white t-shirt while her friend, holding a backpack and in a checked shirt, looks on. Behind them, two men with guns are clearly visible. In the next photo, their bodies are seen slumped on the ground.

The 17-year-old girl had left home to attend NEET classes for admission to pre-medical studies on July 6 morning when curfew was eased for some hours. She was picked up by her friend in a motorcycle. Assuming the situation had improved, both took the main road connecting Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts. The areas between these two districts saw fierce gunfights and killings in May and June.

Their parents filed complaints with two police stations after they did not return home.

The police said CCTV footage of shops along the road they took shows the teens going towards Nambol, 16 km from Imphal. It gets murkier from here as the phones of the two teens were switched off at places that were 18 km apart, police sources said.

“The cybercrime police reported her phone was last switched off at Kwakta and her friend’s phone was switched off at Lamdan,” the girl’s father Hijam Kullajit told NDTV. Large portraits of his daughter are placed on a table behind him.

Kwakta is in Bishnupur district, which is a part of the valley, while Lamdan is in Churachandpur, which comes under hill areas.

“As she didn’t return, I called her and she picked up. She seemed frightened and said she was in Nambol. I asked why she was at Nambol and also asked her to tell her location, so her father can pick her up. She murmured Khoupum (20 km from Nambol) and her phone got switched off,” the girl’s mother Jayashree told NDTV on August 2.

“I want justice. I want the killers to be caught and punished. I know how I passed all these days,” the girl’s father Hijam Kullajit told NDTV, and broke down.

“I want justice. I want the killers to be caught and punished. I know how I passed all these days,” the girl’s father Hijam Kullajit told NDTV

The case has sparked massive outrage across the country, with many questioning why it took so long for the police to crack the case.

The investigators are likely to use advanced cyber forensics tools to make the images clearer and determine the identities of the two men visible in the background, people with direct knowledge of the matter said, requesting anonymity.

The government said it will take “swift and decisive action” against all those involved in the kidnapping and killing of the students. It appealed to the public to maintain calm and let the investigators do their job. The government had also referred this case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) a few weeks ago.

Protests by students broke out in Imphal today over the murders, following which the state government disabled mobile internet till October 1.

The hills of Manipur house several camps of some 25 Kuki insurgent groups that have signed the tripartite suspension of operations (SoO) agreement with the centre, state and the military. The Kukis have alleged valley-based militias of attacking them, while the Meiteis have accused the Kuki insurgents of violating the SoO agreement by openly fighting with sophisticated weapons.

Ethnic violence between the hill-majority Kuki tribes and the valley-majority Meiteis began on May 3, following a protest by the Kukis over the Meiteis’ demand for Scheduled Tribes (ST) status. Over 180 have died and thousands have been internally displaced.