Imphal: Souls Offered Unitedly for a Lustrated Society, an association of families of involuntarily missing victims, submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Manipur on Saturday, seeking urgent justice and relief for 34 families whose loved ones have gone missing since the outbreak of ethnic clash on May 3, 2023.
The memorandum highlights the unending trauma and hardships faced by the victims’ families, many of whom are also internally displaced persons (IDPs).
It urged the government to provide immediate relief, including “Presumed Death” certificates, compensation, and punishment for those responsible.
The society pointed out that under Section 108 of the Indian Evidence Act, families must wait seven years before a missing person can be declared legally dead, leaving them unable to access compensation, government jobs, or legal reliefs.
The group urged the Prime Minister to bypass this waiting period, citing precedents during the 2004 tsunami and the Uttarakhand floods when governments issued special orders granting “presumed death” certificates to missing persons, enabling families to receive timely rehabilitation.
“In Manipur, not less than 34 persons have officially disappeared in the past two years. Families wait in agony for closure and justice with no access to compensation or relief because they have no death certificate. Many kin of the victims are on the verge of exceeding the age bar for jobs, which shall only compound their tragedies,” the memorandum read.
The society stressed the urgent need to trace the missing persons and ensure procedural trials of the perpetrators for just closure. It further called for the issuance of “presumed death” certificates so that the families can access government schemes and employment opportunities.
It demanded that each affected family be given a central government job to secure their livelihood, and urged the Prime Minister to ensure the resettlement of displaced families and their rightful return to their original settlements.
It expressed hope that the Prime Minister would intervene to end their prolonged suffering and ensure justice for the missing persons and their families.
