Meitei Atrocity: Torturing of David Thiek’s Final Moment Surfaced Again

A video footage of the final moment of David Thiek just before he was barbarically killed and beheaded by the Meiteis surfaced again on social media.

A social media user named “Bz Nao Sngh”, from a Meitei community, had posted the video clip in his Facebook account on Friday, just to be taken down later. However, the video went viral with backlash from all right thinking people around the world.

It was deeply disturbing to see how the last glimpse of David Hmar’s agonising video came out in public platform after 6 six months of the ethnic cleansing pogrom. The video showed that he was held captive by the Meitei radicals- Arambai Tenggol amd Meitei Leepun hooligans, while he was still alive, unaware that he would be tortured inhumanely till death. Seeing the visual footage, one cannot fathom the fear and terror he would have undergone while we was held captive, interrogated and slapped as if he was a criminal.

His only faultline was just his “ethnicity” because he belongs to Hmar tribe, one of the Kuki-Zo communities whom the Meiteis try to annihilate from the soil of Manipur. It was shameful that such hatred could exist, the deep hatred executed and manifested into many unthinkable crimes of the highest degree.

David, a 30-year-old man, became one of the countless victims of Meitei atrocities, a tragic consequence of the ethnic conflict between the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zo that has plagued the northeastern state since May 3.

David Thiek grew up in Langza village, Churachandpur district. The older of two siblings, David’s mother died when he was six. His friends describe him as a passionate footballer who played in various village tournaments. After finishing class 12 in school, he left for Mumbai, where he purportedly worked at a restaurant.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, David returned home to Langza to take care of his disabled father. He had been home ever since. He was planning to return to Mumbai, but ethnic violence erupted in Manipur on May 3. Two months later, he was brutally murdered in his own beloved village on July 2, 2023 by the Meitei terrorists. They tied his neck with a rope and dragged him to a field near a playground. They tortured him by gouging out his right eye and then cut off his right arm, asking, ‘Do you want the other arm?’ Then they chopped off his left arm as well. Instead of finishing him off with guns, they tortured him further. As if they hadn’t had enough of the torture, they then cut off his legs as well. After they dismembered David’s body into several pieces, the severed head was placed on the wooden fence outside his house.

The Aftermath: The criminals ransacked his home and set it ablaze. Fearing for their lives, the village’s inhabitants fled to the forest for safety. The assailants proceeded to set fire to the entire village, reducing everyone’s homes to ashes. David’s remains were also severely burned.

Conclusion: Humanity in Manipur can no longer thrive without the Kuki-Zo being given a total separation from Meiteis’ Kangleipak. The minority citizens of India in Manipur rightfully deserve to live separately within India Constitution for their safety and security.

Notbaly, the key accused in beheading David Hmar, Mairembam Romesh Mangang, PRO of Kumbi MLA Shanti Kumar, still walks free.