From November 4, 2003 to the present : Revisiting the Lungnila story
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: April 19 , 2014 -

School children paying floral tribute to Lungnila Elizabeth at Little Flower School, Imphal at the First Death Anniversary on 4 November 2004 :: Pix - David M Mayum

The final word is yet to be said, but after ten years, the wheel of justice seems to be churning, with at least five of them under detention.

A brief recap is in line here. On November 4, 2003, the then 8 years old Lungnila Elizabeth was kidnapped from outside her school campus (Little Flower School) and her decomposed body was found tucked inside a gunny bag and thrown into a road side ditch on November 13 at Tera Sadokpam, sending shock waves across the State.

It was not for nothing that the English edition of The Sangai Express ran its editorial the day after the lifeless body of the young child was found on the front page.

We broke conventions, but the situation demanded it.

As news of the kidnapping of the young girl spread, civil society organisations, cutting across communal and ethnic divides rose as one to condemn the act and demanded the release of the child.

Those who closely followed the story must still remember the great chase along the Imphal-Dimapur line after words did the round that the prime suspect, James Kuki had fled by road.

And yes the rounding up of another suspect, Rome by an underground organisation who was later handed over to the Meira Paibis at Konthok Nganbi in DM College and the subsequent take over by the police.

That James Kuki managed to dodge the great chase and landed into the hands of the NSCN (IM) is now history.

That the collective voice of the people cut no ice with the kidnappers became evident with each passing day and the discovery of her decomposed body in a gunny bag proved this beyond any doubt.

This is also now history.

Cut to the present and at least five are now in custody with the CBI netting two more as co-accused in the past few days.

As news of the discovery of the body of the young girl spread like wild fire, the State Government acted promptly and imposed curfew in Imphal in no time, perhaps sensing trouble from the incensed people.

This was what happened more than ten years and come November 4 every year and the overwhelming sense that we as adults failed to protect a young, innocent young, continue to dog our conscience.

Perhaps only justice and penalising the guilty will ease that sense of guilt to a certain extent.

Lungnila Elizabeth is dead. But her memory will continue to linger and each time we remember her we realise the failure of society as a whole.

Sure the ghastly crime was committed by a handful of demented minds, but there is no denying the fact that the demented minds are from this society.

A case of society breeding criminals of the lowest kind. It is this which should make our heads hang in shame.

In between November 4, 2003 and the present there have been numerous crimes against women and children.

The story of Elizabeth was followed by the kidnapping and murder of two young kids from Senapati, Hriini Hubert and Muheni Martin sometime in 2005.

After days of remaining traceless and despite numerous pleas and appeals to release the two children, their skeletal remains were found atop a hill not very far from Senapati district headquarters.

So far no one has been booked and no suspect list has been drawn up. Or if it has been drawn up, it has not come to the public domain.

Here too we hope to see the wheel of justice churning. As said the last word is yet to be said but at the same time it is heartening to see the CBI getting its act together and doing something, if the recent arrest of two more co-accused in the kidnapping and murder of Lungnila Elizabeth is anything to go by.

Let justice prevail.

In the death of Elizabeth, it was not only a father and mother who lost their child, but Manipur too lost a child.

This should about sum up the reason behind the outrage and cry for justice in the case of the young child.

Let justice prevail. Amen.

Read the entire timeline on Lungnila Elizabeth