Testimony of Smt. Samuralaitpam (O) Shanti Devi, blast victim of Sangakpham

I, Smt. Samuralaitpam (O) Shanti Devi aged about 30 years, W/O  Sh. Samuralaitpam Joykumar Singh, R/O Lei Ingkhol, Chingmeirong, P.O. Heingang , P.S. Heingang, Imphal East District, 795010, would like to testify how I encountered the terrible Sangakpham blast on 2^nd August 2011.

The day the bomb blast occurred i.e. 2^nd of August 2011, I went to Keishampat with my maternal mother to meet my nephew. After the meeting, we took a passenger auto rickshaw for returning home to Lei Ingkhol Chingmeirong. When we reached D.M. College, my husband called me and asked me to get fish from the market. Since, we were about to reach home, I decided to buy the fish from Sangakpham Bazaar. I made my mother wait for me near the diversion road of Lei Ingkhol and Sangakpham, as it would be inconvenient for her to cross the road. The first shop at Sangakpham Bazaar was closed so I went to another fish shop below the NEROCA building. I was climbing the stairs and at the same time asked the shopkeeper whether they have large fish weighing 1-2 kilogram. Before the shopkeeper could answer my question, I heard a loud blast accompanied with black smoke. The place where I was standing was completely engulfed with black smoke and dust. The sound was so intense I felt as if it has pierced my eardrum, I lifted both my hands and pressed my ears. The shopkeeper shouted that it was a bomb blast and we should vacate the shop immediately. I felt a hot sensation flowing down my right arm. The shopkeeper saw the blood and told me I am fatally injured. My right hand was bleeding profusely and my arm was drenched with blood. I was shocked and fell short of words how to express my situation. My right hand was critically injured with some finger bones protruding out from the palm. I was confused and became incoherent on what I am supposed to do. I walked out from the shop and saw bomb blast wreckage and people screaming and running to and fro in the midst of the black smoke and dust. The cable, telephone and electric wires were hanging down from the poles. I could not see clearly owing to the smoke and dust. I got startled when something fell down beside me with a loud thud. I rubbed my eyes to see clearly what it was, and to my astonishment, it was a body of a person ruptured by the high intensity of the bomb blast. The body was without arms and without legs from knee. It turns out to be the dead body of the insurgent who had triggered the bomb. My body was hurting and paining from the shrapnel injuries on my head, face, neck, arms, stomach and leg. I was confused what to do and someone from the fish shop brought clothes to wrap my hand in order to stop the bleeding. Mr. German of Sangakpham Bazaar was grievously injured on his right leg in the blast. I saw him lying against the tree trunk helplessly with bone protruding out from his right leg. He was in shock, pain and agony. Many commandos reached the blast area and started searching for dead bodies and injured people. I was sitting down and nobody saw me in the beginning. Then, I saw my mother searching and calling my name. She saw me and ran towards me and asked my condition. With the help of the police and my mother, we went to RIMS Hospital for medication. I was in the hospital for 22 days.

My right hand was damaged from the blast so badly that the doctors had difficulty in dislodging the two iron pieces. I underwent two operations on my right hand for mending and straightening the bones. The pain from the broken bones was in tolerable. The doctors removed several splinters from my head, face, neck, arms, stomach and leg. I felt very uncomfortable inside my ears and now after few months the ringing sound has disappeared.  The doctors prescribed strong pain killers and antibiotics. I was on medication for more than two months. My right hand is not normal from the operation and I cannot wash clothes or mop the floors. I am using my left hand and both the feet to wash and squeeze our clothes. I have five small children, an aged mother-in-law and father-in-law along with my husband. They all depend upon me for household chores and I am facing serious hardship with my handicapped right hand not able to perform any work. My husband construct brick houses and I accompany him for helping as well as earning money before the blast. Now I am helpless, the bomb blast has rendered me to a vegetable state. My husband borrowed a huge sum of money on my operation and medication. We are not financially sound with so many members in our family. My hand injury has caused more financial constraints.

After the blast, I cannot go or pass towards the blast area, the painful memories flashes back and I get troubled and terrified. I fear another blast may occur and I may die. I tried my best not to cross the blast area and avoid any work towards the bomb blast area. During the Diwali, my children and neighbors burnt firecrackers near my house. I got irritated and furious. I shouted and scolded them not to burst the firecrackers in my surrounding. I tried to make them understand that I cannot tolerate loud sounds.

After the blast, a Joint Action Committee was formed to agitate against the killings. There was commotion, strikes, bandhs etc in protest against the bomb blast. The poor are the main victims of the blast. The insurgents involved in the blast should be punished for causing so much hardship to the innocent citizens.