‘Pleaded for mercy’: Manipur boy, 8, and mother killed after mob sets ambulance on fire

The month-long violence in Manipur has left indelible scars, and among them is the tragic death of an eight-year-old boy caught in the crossfire.

The boy, his mother and a relative were burnt alive when a mob set fire to an ambulance ferrying them to a hospital in Manipur’s West Imphal district on Sunday night.

The boy was being rushed for medical treatment after being hit by a bullet amid deadly ethnic clashes between tribal groups and the majority Meitei community in the northeastern state, news agencies Reuters and PTI reported.

Three have been identified as Tonsing Hangsing, 8, his 45-year-old mother Meena Hangsing, and Lydia Lourembam, aged 37, PTI quoted officials as saying.

How did the incident take place?

The incident took place in the remote Iroisemba area in Imphal West district, when the ambulance ferrying the family was waylaid by a crowd of about 2,000 people, most of them from the Kuki tribe.

The boy’s father also belongs to the same tribe, but was not with him at the time. His mother and the male relative accompanying him belonged to the Meiti community, Reuters reported.

“The woman and man in the ambulance pleaded for mercy saying the little boy had bullet injuries but the mob refused to spare them and set it on fire,” a police official told Reuters on the condition of anonymity.

The child’s father, Joshua Hangsing, told local television Northeast Live that he is yet to receive the bodies of the victims. “I have not yet received the dead bodies but I have heard that the three were charred beyond recognition with just a few bones left in the ambulance,” he said.

Sources told PTI that said the boy and his mother were staying at an Assam Rifles relief camp at Kangchup.

On June 4 evening, a gunfight started in the area, and despite being in the camp, he was hit by a bullet.

“A senior Assam Rifles officer immediately spoke to police in Imphal and arranged for an ambulance. Since the mother was from the majority community, a decision was taken to take the kid to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal by road,” PTI quoted sources as saying.

The ambulance was under Assam Rifles escort for a few kilometres, after which the local police took over.
“Around 6:30 pm, the ambulance was waylaid by civilians at Isoisemba and set ablaze. All three in the vehicle were killed. We still do not know where the bodies are,” one of the sources added.

Ethnic violence in Manipur

Violent clashes broke out in the northeastern state after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

The Kangchup area has several Kuki villages and is on Kangpokpi district’s border with Imphal West, close to the Meitei village of Phayeng. The area has been seeing heavy exchange of fire in the second wave of violence across the state since May 27.

The clashes were preceded by tension over eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals — Nagas and Kukis — constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.