Photos: Bodies of 87 Kuki-Zo Victims Buried in Manipur's Churachandpur District
The mass burial took place on 20 December around 2.30 pm at Sekhen village, near Khuga Dam.
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The bodies of 87 Kuki-Zo victims killed in the ongoing clashes between the Meiteis and the Kukis in the northeastern state of Manipur were laid to rest on Wednesday, 20 December.
(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)
The mass burial took place around 2.30 pm at Sekhen village, near Khuga Dam in Churachandpur district, according to a press release of the ITLF (Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum).
(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)
This was the second mass burial ceremony this month after the bodies of 64 were shifted from morgues earlier this month following the Supreme Court's directives.
(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)
The state government on Thursday, 14 December, airlifted the bodies of 64 victims [60 of them Kuki-Zo] and returned them to their respective families in Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, and Imphal districts. The bodies were taken from different mortuaries amid tight security.
(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)
Due to the relentless violence, the Kuki-majority areas in the hills and the Meitei-majority areas in the Valley have become impossible for Meiteis and Kukis to access, respectively. This made it very difficult for families to collect the mortal remains of their kin.
(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)
A one month old baby was among the 87 bodies buried on Wednesday.
(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)
Of the total 60 bodies of Kuki-Zo victims, that were lying at the mortuaries of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Imphal West and JNIMS (Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences) in Imphal East, 41 were airlifted to Churachandpur and the remaining 19 to Kangpokpi.
(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)
According to the ITLF, 11 others from the community are still missing.
(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)
The mass burial ceremony also consisted of a gun salute by the village defence volunteers.
(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)
Manipur has been ripped apart by ethnic violence since 3 May. Follow The Quint's coverage here.
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