Kuki girl tries to immolate self in Delhi rally over Naga talks

New Delhi: Timely intervention by alert women personnel of the Delhi Police and some Kuki protestors helped avert a tragedy that might have spun out of control early on Wednesday afternoon. Lamneimoi Chongloi, a woman in her 20s, tried to set herself on fire after allegedly pouring petrol on herself at a protest march organised by Kuki groups in the national capital.

Alert constables of Delhi Police and a few members of the assembled public, however, managed to restrain the woman, who is working as a flight attendant with a low-cost airline, before she could set herself on fire.

The incident took place during a large demonstration organised by Kuki Students’ Organisation Delhi & NCR at Jantar Mantar, not far from the Parliament building, to warn the central government against making any “unreasonable concessions” to the Naga insurgent groups during the ongoing talks peace talks. Chongloi — a former beauty queen who was crowned Miss Kut in 2014 — was then physically removed from the spot by policewomen and members of the public.

Highly placed sources in the Delhi Police told EastMojo that Chongloi, who was apparently very emotionally charged, had managed to smuggle the petrol in a water bottle to the event.

Chongloi was temporarily taken into preventive custody and was subsequently released with a warning. Delhi Police has decided not to press any charges against her.

Although some of the people that EastMojo spoke to for this story even accused the woman of trying to take advantage of the large crowd by indulging in theatrics, it must be noted that had things turned out differently they might have had serious repercussions on the law and order situation in several parts of the region.

Some of the passersby managed to capture the drama on their mobile phones, with one of the clips going viral on WhatsApp groups in the Northeastern region.

However, as a responsible media platform with a strong commitment to ensuring law and order and communal harmony in one of the most beautifully diverse parts of the country, EastMojo would like to affirm that the girl was spared any harm due to the promptness shown by women personnel of the Delhi Police and the public.

Moreover, we would also like to appeal to our readers to act responsibly and exercise utmost caution and avoid sharing any unconfirmed reports emanating out of the Naga peace dialogue.