Manipur government data shows kin of less than half the victims paid compensation

98 Kuki-Zo & 67 Meitei killed in Manipur violence. 19 women from both communities killed. Less than half of victims' families received compensation. Most victims aged 30-40, 5 minors incl. 7-yr-old boy. 72 families received compensation, 28 Kuki-Zo & 44 Meitei. 175 killed, 81 identified & claimed, 88 identified & unclaimed, 6 yet to be identified. Post Oct 7, more killings reported.

Of the 166 civilians killed in the Manipur violence, 98 have been identified as members of the Kuki-Zo community while 67 hailed from the Meitei community, revealed information provided by the Manipur government to a Supreme Court appointed committee. In addition, one woman was from the Naga community. In all, nineteen women from both communities (Kuki-Zo and Meitei) were killed in the ethnic violence till October 7.

The data from May 3 to October 7 shows that the families of less than half of all the victims have received compensation between ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh, while 38 families, including one Meitei family, have refused to accept any compensation from the government. The State government said it was trying to convince the families to accept the compensation. Data also shows that most of those killed were in the age group of 30 to 40 years while five were minors, including a seven-year-old boy.

Of the 72 families from the two communities that received compensation, 28 are Kuki-Zo while 44 are from the Meitei community. While families of less than 30% of the Kuki-Zo victims have received the compensation due to them, families of nearly 65% of the Meitei victims have received theirs, according to The Hindu’s analysis of the data.

The SC appointed committed headed by former Chief Justice of J&K High Court, Gita Mittal, submitted a report on release of “ex-gratia payment to the next of kin of deceased” to the court on Tuesday.

The report mentions details of the ex-gratia compensation given to families of 169 people who were killed and have been identified. The list of dead and identified include three members from the central security forces - two from the Border Security Force and one from the Assam Rifles, and three personnel of the Manipur Police. In addition to this, six bodies are yet to be identified.

The data provided by the State government mentioned the date of the incident only in 84 cases.

The analysis of dates showed that seven people were killed in the 48 hours preceding Home Minister Amit Shah’s first and only visit to Manipur from May 29 to June 1. According to available data, at least 27 people were killed after his visit. The numbers of the dead could be more as the data provided is only till October 7.