Meitei man killed in Manipur had delayed wedding with Kuki woman for 3 years over unrest

Guwahati: When conflict involving the Meitei and the Kuki communities in Manipur broke out on May 3, 2023, Mayanlambam Rishikanta Singh, a Meitei man, was preparing for his marriage with a Kuki girl, Chingnu Haokip.

The young couple was scheduled to tie the nuptial knot in May but the raging violence, deaths and destructions around, both in the Meitei-dominated valley and the Kuki-majority hills, left the two families with no option but to postpone the marriage. Kukis fled the Valley while Meiteis also quit the Kuki-dominated hills for safety. More than 60,000 people had taken shelter in relief camps.

The 38-year-old Rishikanta, the resident of Kakching Khunou Uchan Makhong Leikai in Meitei-dominated Kakching district, however, was firm on the marriage plan even as the conflict further widened the divide between the two communities.

As the violence continued and the government struggled to find a solution to the conflict, Rihsikanta left for Nepal in for work. The couple, however, remained in touch over phone and waited for the conflict to end for their formal marriage.

But as the tension remained far from over for more than two-and-half years, Chingnu asked him to visit her parents' home at Tuibouong, a village in Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district. Realising that his family would not allow him to visit Churachandpur given the fear of being attacked, Rishikanta returned from Nepal and went straight to her fiance's house on December 19. "Definitely, we would not have allowed him to visit a Kuki area in such a situation," a family member said on Friday. Rishikanta even adopted a Kuki name as Ginminthang to visit his fiance.

On the night of January 21, the couple was allegedly abducted from Chingnu's home by suspected Kuki armed persons. At around 1:45am on Thursday (January 22), Chingnu called up his family to inform that Rishikanta was shot dead by the abductor. She said the abductor had thrown her out of the car before taking Singh away, said the FIR lodged by his family on Thursday.

A video, which surfaced on social media showed him pleading with folded hands before he was shot dead twice by assailants not seen in the video.

It is, however, not known how he crossed the "buffer zone" separating the Valley and Churachandpur. Since the conflict started, the central security forces have been allowing travellers only after verification of identity documents at several check posts on the highway.

There were reports claiming that Rishikanta got confidence as Chingnu told that she had taken "permission" from Kuki armed groups for his visit. But Kuki National Organisation (KNO), a forum of several Kuki insurgent groups, issued a statement on Thursday rejecting her claim. The group, however, denied its hands behind the killing. The KNO and the United People’s Front, another such forum, have been in suspension of operations agreement with the government and have been engaged in talks. The groups demand creation of a Union Territory comprising the Kuki areas for ending the conflict.

Protest by family:

With the security forces unable to make any headway in the case, Rishikanta's family members hit the streets on Friday demanding action against Kuki insurgents.

Her family, meanwhile, refused to accept his body till the assailants are arrested. Manipur Governor on Friday announced ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased.