Singson's mortal remains taken to Kangpokpi through Kohima
Guwahati: The mortal remains of the 26-year-old Kuki girl from Manipur, Lamnunthem Singson, a cabin crew member of the ill-fated Air India Ahmedabad-London flight, arrived at Nagaland's Dimapur airport on Thursday.
People from both the Naga and Kuki-Zo communities from both states paid their last respects to her before her body was taken to Kangpokpi through Kohima, detouring Meitei-inhabited areas of Manipur.
A cavalcade of 10 vehicles arrived from Manipur's Kangpokpi district after travelling almost seven hours to receive the mortal remains of Singson, which arrived at Dimapur Airport at 1.30pm on Thursday. Singson's internally displaced family, which belongs to the Kuki-Zo community, decided not to take her body to their rented house in Kangpokpi town through Imphal due to the ongoing conflict between Kukis and Meiteis.
Tears rolled down the faces of her relatives and members of Kuki-Zo organisations after the coffin was taken out from the flight at Dimapur Airport. Her body was flown from Ahmedabad via Guwahati to Dimapur airport by an Indigo flight, airport officials said. Members of Kuki Union Dimapur, Kuki Nute Kiloikhom Dimapur and Kuki Youth & Students' Union Dimapur, along with Naga leaders, were present at Dimapur Airport to receive the mortal remains of Singson.
"Her body was then taken through NH2, where people paid their floral tributes to her during brief halts in Kohima, Senapati, and small Kuki-inhabited villages in Kangpokpi district. We took the responsibility to ensure that her body reaches their Kangpokpi home safely in her last journey," said Thangrijoy Baite, president of Kuki Students' Organisation, Sadar Hills district unit.
Singson's brothers and some other family members accompanied the mortal remains from Ahmedabad.
At their Kangpokpi home, a crowd was eagerly waiting for the arrival of Singson's body. Her funeral will take place in a public cemetery in Kangpokpi town on Friday. Singson and her internally displaced family fled from their home in Old Lambulane colony in Imphal to Kangpokpi soon after ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur in May 2023.
Though the state govt and leading civil society organisation COCOMI assured safe passage to take Singson's mortal remains through Imphal Airport, the family decided to skip Imphal, which was deserted by Kukis after the ethnic clashes broke out.
The travel time from Kangpokpi to Imphal is around two-and-a half-hour by road, but Singson's family and Kuki organisations took a much longer route from Dimapur via Nagaland capital Kohima to reach Kangpokpi after travelling about six hours late Thursday evening.
Kongbrailatpam Nganthoi Sharma, another cabin crew member from the Meitei community of Manipur, was on the Air India flight that crashed minutes after takeoff from Ahmedabad. Her family has been camping in Ahmedabad since June 13, but the DNA match is yet to be done as of Thursday afternoon, her sister Gitanjali Kongbrailatpam said.
"Our wait is getting longer. There is no update on the DNA match," Gitanjali said.
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