Manipur Violence: Man with 17 bullets inside his body undergoing treatment in Mizoram

A 25-year-old man who was shot 17 times amid ethnic violence in Manipur is being treated at a government hospital in adjoining Mizoram. 

On May 14, the victim, named Pauginmuan, was transported to Aizawl Civil Hospital from Churachandpur district in an adjoining state for better medical care. 

According to the official, he absorbed at least 17 shots fired from a locally produced rifle during a heated altercation in a hamlet on May 3. Bullets struck him in the back and neck. 

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However, four of these were removed from the Churachandpur district hospital. Pauginmuan was sent to Aizawl because physicians in Churachandpur said they lacked the necessary tools to retrieve the bullets implanted near the spinal cord and arterial veins. On Monday, efforts are being undertaken to extract the bullets, according to the official. 

PTI spoke with the victim before he was sent to the operating room during the day. Pauginmuan, a member of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribe, stated that he and his comrades were guarding their hamlet when they were attacked by armed miscreants after the Tribal Solidarity March finished on May 3. 

Pauginmuan stated that while two of his buddies were murdered in the incident, he was injured. 

Clashes erupted in Manipur on May 3 following the 'Tribal Solidarity March' staged in the hill areas to oppose the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) designation. 

In the ethnic violence, at least 73 people were murdered, 231 were injured, and 1,700 homes, including religious sites, were destroyed. 

The eviction of Kuki people from the reserve forest area had sparked a succession of minor protests before the violence. 

Meiteis make up around 53 per cent of Manipur's population and dwell mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals – Nagas and Kukis – make up another 40 per cent of the population and live in the hill areas.