Imphal: At least 88 dead bodies, mostly belonging to tribals, lay unclaimed at different hospital mortuaries in Manipur as of Wednesday.
Almost all the bodies of the non-tribals have been identified and claimed by their relatives.
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Most of the bodies, which are in a state of decay, have yet to be identified, although the responsibility for identifying bodies usually lies with the police.
According to sources at the state health department, police, and district administrations, these bodies, which have yet to be identified by the police, are lying idle at the mortuaries of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal West District, Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) in Imphal East District, and Churachandpur district hospital.
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These bodies have been lying unclaimed since the violence began on May 3. Over 150 people have died and 60,000 people have been displaced in the wake of the attacks on Meiteis (non-tribals) in the hills and Kukis (tribals) in the valley, despite the best efforts of the central and state governments to restore the age-old peaceful coexistence between the two communities.
At least 53 dead bodies, mostly from the Kuki community, lie unclaimed at two district hospitals, RIMS and JNIMS, in the valley, while around 35 bodies from the Kuki-Zo communities are at the District hospital in Churachandpur at present.
Of the 53 bodies lying unclaimed so far in the hospitals in the valley, as many as 59 and 49 bodies have been received by JNIMS.
Approximately 30-35 bodies are currently held at the morgue of the District Hospital in Churachandpur. Of these bodies, 3 bodies are apparently belonging to the Meiteis.
Meanwhile, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) has prepared to lay to rest the deceased members of the Kuki-Zo community at Haolai Khopi, near Torbung in Churachandpur district on Thursday.
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“If the authority concerned sends the dead bodies belonging to the tribals from Imphal, those will also be buried as well,” informed the sources.
On the other hand, the powerful Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) denied the attempt to bury Kukis at Torbung on August 3 and asserted that the same is a provocation of further violence in the conflict-torn state.
The COCOMI warned that the slain Chin-Kuki narco-terrorists cannot be buried at the Sericulture Firm in Torbung Bangla in the Bishnupur district beyond the Churachandpur district boundary.
Against this backdrop, the governments at the centre and state are making elaborate security arrangements to avert any untoward incident on August 3.