Man displaced in conflict dies by suicide in Manipur relief camp, say police

Angom Prem Kumar was a resident of Bijang village in Churachandpur district and was displaced when the ethnic conflict broke out in 2023

The man was living at the pre-fabricated homes built inside a relief camp in the Kwakta region, which falls under the buffer zone area between Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts. Image for representation. | Photo Credit: The Hindu

A 36-year-old man, displaced in the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur, was on Saturday night found dead inside the relief camp he was staying in the Kwakta area of the State, local police said, adding he appeared to have taken his life.

Angom Prem Kumar was a resident of Bijang village in Churachandpur district and was displaced when the ethnic conflict broke out in 2023 between the valley-based Meitei community and the hills-based Scheduled Tribe Kuki-Zo community.

From the Meitei community, Mr. Prem Kumar was living at the pre-fabricated homes built inside a relief camp in the Kwakta region, which falls under the buffer zone area between Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts. He was a daily wage worker, who did handyman jobs at people’s homes, his younger brother, Naopik Angom, told The Hindu over the phone.

Mr. Naopik said his brother and his wife had two children aged 9 and 11 respectively, and the expenses for his wife’s asthma treatment was something that was weighing the family down.

Mental health issues

However, officials in the district police said on Sunday that Mr. Prem Kumar was facing “mental health issues” and that appropriate legal procedures had been initiated.

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“We arrived at the Kwakta relief camp and performed the last rites,” said Mr. Naopik, who is himself living with his family at another relief camp in Bishnupur district. He said his brother was not able to get enough work while living in Kwakta as not many people knew him there and whatever work was available was irregular.

This comes months after another internally displaced person, an 83-year-old man from the Kuki-Zo community, was found dead in May this year, suspectedly by suicide, after having allegedly been depressed, according to the CSOs.

(Those in distress or having suicidal tendencies could seek help and counselling by calling the following numbers: Sanjivini, Society for Mental Health; telephone: 011-40769002, Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-7.30 p.m. More helpline numbers across the country are available in this link)

Published - July 08, 2024 12:28 am IST