Kamal Ghorui
BISHNUPUR: A red mosquito net hangs loosely over a broken bed frame, untouched since the moment a powerful blast tore through the house. The room remains eerily still, as if clinging to the memory of the two children who slept there just hours before.Five-year-old boy, Oinam Tomthin, and his infant sister, Oinam Yaisana, were killed in a deadly explosion that ripped through their home at Tronglaobi Awang Leikai in Bishnupur district in the early hours of Tuesday. The children were asleep when the blast struck at around 1:05am.
The net, meant to shield them from the smallest of threats, stood helpless against the force that shattered their home. Nearby, shards of glass litter the floor and destroyed window panels lie scattered — silent witnesses to the tragedy.Their mother, Oinam Binita, is battling for her life in the ICU of a private hospital. The incident is the latest in a fresh wave of violence gripping the region.Family members said preparations were underway for Yaisana’s weaning ceremony next month, as she was just weeks away from turning six months old. Their father, Oinam Mangalngamba, a BSF soldier currently posted in Bihar, had been home until last month.The loss has left the family devastated. Oinam Budhichandra, Mangalngamba’s uncle, described the tragedy as a moment of deep mourning for the entire family.Binita, a nurse working in Guwahati, had planned to return to her duties after the weaning ceremony.“We were preparing for our granddaughter’s weaning ceremony next month. Her brother was only five. They were innocent children — I don’t know what to say anymore,” said their grandfather, Oinam Babudhon, 70, breaking down in tears.Meanwhile, public outrage has since mounted across the state. Several civil society groups and large numbers of residents gathered at Tronglaobi to protest the killings.Thokchom Sujata, president of Imagi Meira, who visited the site, questioned the govt’s claims of restored normalcy.“While the father is protecting the nation, his two children were killed in an attack by armed Kuki men,” she said. The bodies of the two siblings are now at a morgue of a hospital after the port-mortem as family members are yet to claim them, sources said.
