Chongtham Vikram Singh was a peace-loving musician who lived a peaceful life, says wife

Fifty-four-year-old Chongtham Vikram Singh was a peace-loving musician who lived a peaceful life, his wife, Joshna Chongtham, said on Tuesday, a day after he died from injuries sustained in an assault by a group of allegedly inebriated men outside his home in Delhi’s Ashram area. “We hope such an incident never happens to another family, and we hope justice will be done,” she said.

Ms. Chongtham made the statement at a press conference at Manipur Bhawan in New Delhi, a day after her husband, a well-known musician, succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at Holy Family Hospital.

“I am still struggling to come to terms with the loss of my husband, Vikram Chongtham Singh. He was my husband, my child’s father, a son and a brother, a musician, and a person deeply loved by my family, friends and relatives. His sudden death has left a loss that cannot be expressed in words,” Ms. Chongtham said.

At the State Bhawan, Manipuri rights activist Binalakshmi Nepram, who has been supporting the family since the assault, demanded life imprisonment for the accused. She said it was the government’s responsibility to educate people about those from the northeastern States so that “they learn to love and respect us, not kill us”. 

The Delhi Police have registered an FIR under BNS sections relating to mob lynching and arrested seven men and apprehended a 15-year-old boy. All of them were delivery or packaging workers at nearby dhabas. In the moments after the assault, Mr. Singh told his son that the people who assaulted him had previously threatened him for asking them not to make noise late into the night, according to the FIR.

Ms. Nepram told presspersons, “We wish to convey the message on behalf of 3.3 million Manipuris. You touch another brother, you touch another sister and Manipur will wage war against the people who are trying to kill our brothers, our children, both at home and in Delhi. Manipur is in a state of conflict right now. People come to Delhi for safety and you are killing us? Is this the India you want to develop”

People close to the family said Ms. Chongtham and her son would return to Imphal with Mr. Singh’s body, where a funeral would be held. Since Mr. Singh’s death, condolences and condemnations have poured in, with several civil society organisations holding a candlelight vigil near the Sunlight Colony police station on Monday night.

According to the police complaint filed by Mr. Singh’s son, Mr. Singh had left the home after dinner on Sunday night and at around 11:30 pm, his screams could be heard from the stairwell of the building where they lived. His 20-year-old son said he opened the door to find his father being kicked and punched by a group of people, who soon ran away.

Ms. Chongtham said that soon after Mr. Singh left the house, “he came running back, chased by eight men who beat him and ran away”, adding that he was complaining of breathlessness after the assault and was then rushed to the hospital.