Testimony of Smt. Oinam (O) Yaimabi Leima Devi
I, Smt. Oinam (O) Yaimabi Leima Devi aged about 47 years, W/O Sh. Oinam Yaima Singh, R/O Ishikha Mayai Leikai P.O. Lamlong, P.S. Lamlai, Imphal East District, 795010, would like to testify the happenings of the day when my son was taken away by the Police commandos without issuing any arrest warrant. My son was a driver by profession when he was alive, driving between Pukhao to Imphal. He was staying with his uncle and came home to live with us for sometime as he was suffering from epilepsy. The disease was reoccurring at frequent intervals; therefore he was staying with us for medication and was recuperating. My son was a very polite and quite person; he was earning properly and was supporting us financially. We were happy for his major service in the family, however, he has been snatched away from us, it seems he was destined to live a short life.
On the intervening night of 31st October and 1st November 2009, around 1-2 a.m two army personnel banged on our door and came inside hastily with their gun pointing towards my husband and shoved him aside. My sons were sleeping and they were forced to wake up and get dressed. The two army men were speaking to us in Manipuri and without issuing arrest memo they arrested and dragged away my eldest son. They did not mention the reason for arresting him and instead told us not to make any sound and latched the door from outside so that we do not follow and ask for help from the neighborhood. We were simply helpless and afraid to open the door or shout for help as they might hurt or kill our son. After sometime one of my sons jumped out from the window and opened the door. We went out and heard a commotion and learnt that our uncle’s son was also arrested and taken away along with my son. We hired vehicles and with womenfolk of our village, went to Porompat Police Station to inquire if the army personnel had brought the arrested persons to the police station. Unexpectedly, the police told us they had no knowledge about the arrest and no persons were brought. I became very worried and felt helpless wondering where they might have taken them away and returned home very worried and troubled.
The next day, we approached the MLA of our jurisdiction seeking help to move application to the concerned department in order to find our arrested son’s. No one was able to locate the missing duo. Nobody had any knowledge where the army had taken them away. We were not able to recount which battalion the security personnel belonged to and this made the situation worse for us to locate where the army had taken and hidden them. We were in a dilemma where the army had taken away and for what purpose.
On the 11th day, the news came about an encounter at Andro Sanapat, Yairipok, of Imphal East district. The army had an encounter with an insurgent group and seven underground cadres had been killed during the encounter. We went to RIMS morgue to check if my son and his cousin brothers were involved in the encounter and amongst the corpses. My head started spinning and sweating extremely and I started imaging if my sons were involved.
My imagination turned to reality, I learnt after few hours from one of our relatives who went down to RIMS morgue to identify the death bodies. My dearest son and his cousin brother were amongst the seven youths shot down on the pretext of alleged fake encounter with the Indian army at Andro Sanapat. My son was wearing his own clothes when my husband went to retrieve his body from the hospital. Whereas his cousin brother was not wearing the usual clothes he was wearing on the day he was taken away, instead he was wearing one loose t-shirt which appeared to had been borrowed from someone else and his pants had been changed into another camouflage print half pants which was extremely tight and the belly button was also opened as if it was too tight to be closed. It seems my son was shot several times during the fake encounter by the army. My son’s body bore multiple bullet injuries and there is possibility that he might had been tortured before shooting him during the fake encounter.
After his death, a Joint Action Committee was formed in order to show that he was not an insurgent and why a person should be done to death without any proper reason. Rallies and dharnas were mobilized and the minister of our jurisdiction came and offered us with a compensation of Rs. One Lakh. The minister also made a strong promise to provide employment to one of the nearest kin. However, this promise has not been accomplished till today even if we had inquired several times with the minister. There was no magisterial inquiry for further investigation of the matter.
My condition has changed drastically after the death of my loving son. My health has deteriorated severely after his death. Before, I was a hard working person with no heath problems, I go to the market for trading and also go to the fields during the harvest season for earning money. Now, my husband restrains me knowing my difficult situation. Most of the time, I kept hearing my son’s voice calling out to me and I would run outside in order to check if he has returned. My head spins, and I would faint. I developed stomach pain and underwent medication with several costly tests. However, the doctors were not able to diagnose exactly what I am suffering from. Most of the test like-Ultra sound, blood test, ECG turned out to be normal. My mind is not able to concentrate on any important work or on the conversation one is having. My husband and my remaining two sons carry out all the other works starting from carrying water to going to the fields. My only job is to prepare food, wash dishes and clothes of my family and remain within our premises. I don’t attend wedding ceremony or any form of ceremonies or rituals. My circle of life now lies within our premises. I have preserved some of his clothes and a chappal separately. I have also cherished the mufflers which he had received as a gift from his girlfriend. Whenever I remember him, I would take out these clothes and gaze at them for a long time. I am like a mad person and I am not able to cherish any moment even if my sons and husband do their best to make me happy. My only question is why the army had to kill an innocent person and why God snatched away my son away from me.
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