Imphal: In the sweltering heat of a May afternoon, 82-year-old Latpibou Thiumai sits quietly on a plastic chair in the lawn of the Giving Tree, Imphal. Clad in a white vest, his face marked by salt-and-pepper stubble and framed by thick spectacles, the old man stares silently into the distance. His thoughts are fixed on Manu Thiumai (45) and Dilip Thiumai (38), his two sons who remain among the six Naga hostages reportedly held by Kuki militants.
On 13 May 2026, Manu and Dilip were travelling with 16 other Nagas when they were allegedly detained by villagers from Leilon Vaiphei, a Kuki village located barely a kilometre from Konsakhul. What began as a detention soon turned into a hostage crisis.
After two harrowing days in captivity, Kachiaklungliu Thiumai (42), wife of Manu, and Winiliu Thiumai (32), wife of Dilip, were released on 15 May along with their two-year-old daughter Sara and 12 other Naga civilians, due to mounting pressure from multiple quarters. Though free, the women are now displaced, unable to return either to Konsakhul or to Leimakhong. Even if they do return someday, life will never be the same without their husbands.
For little Elisabeth (10), Manu’s younger daughter, the reality remains difficult to comprehend. She keeps asking her mother why her father has still not returned home even though the wedding celebrations are over.
Manu’s own life story was shaped by hardship long before the present crisis. Owing to poverty, his parents sent him away as a child to live with the family of an Indian Army officer in Delhi who had once been posted at Leimakhong. Far from home, Manu spent his early years in unfamiliar surroundings before eventually returning to Manipur as a teenager to complete his schooling.
Life after school was uncertain. Moving from one odd job to another, Manu struggled to find direction until a relative advised him to apply for Christian educational scholarships. That advice changed the course of his life. Through determination and faith, he went on to earn a Bachelor of Theology (B.Th.), a Master of Theology (M.Th.), from South India Baptist Bible College (SIBBC), Coimbatore and eventually a Doctor of Ministry degree from Chil Chil Global University.
The Thiumai family remains deeply grateful to the Indian Army officer’s family in Delhi, as well as to Jim Star and Vision 2020, all of whom supported Manu’s education and ministry at crucial stages of his life. Their assistance helped sustain his theological studies, missionary work, church planting efforts, and educational initiatives. To the family, the churches he planted and the school he founded stand as living testimonies to the kindness shown to a struggling young man who once had very little.
What followed was a life devoted to faith, education, and community service.
A Christian missionary who dedicated himself to spreading the gospel and educating the underprivileged, Manu founded Hope International School (HIS) at Leimakhong in 2023 and established the Leimakhong Baptist Church in 2010. He also helped plant the Kanglatongbi Baptist Church and the Keithelmanbi Baptist Church. According to family members, his next mission was to establish a church in Siliguri.
For those who knew him, these institutions were not merely buildings or organizations, they were the outcome of a lifetime spent overcoming poverty and hardship. Family members believe much more could still have been done had his work not been abruptly interrupted by the violence that engulfed the region.
Today, however, the entire Naga population that once lived in the Leimakhong area has been displaced. Students, teachers, staff of Hope International School, and members of the Leimakhong Baptist Church have taken shelter in Kanto, Khurkhul, and Kanglatongbi. Before violence erupted on 13 May, the school had nearly 100 students, most of them Nepali and Naga children. The church congregation too consisted largely of Nepali and Naga families.
At the compound of Makhan Baptist Church, where state security forces handed over the released civilians, the women recounted their terrifying ordeal. Blindfolded and forced across the rugged terrain of the Koubru hills and surrounding valleys, they endured fear, exhaustion, hunger, and thirst. Though physically unharmed, the trauma remains deeply etched in their minds.
Yet despite the anguish and uncertainty, Latpibou continues to hope that his two sons, along with the four other remaining Naga hostages, will return home safely.
Only two days before the abduction, the Thiumai family had been celebrating a joyous occasion. On 11 May 2026, amid the uncertainty of the ongoing conflict in Manipur, the family held the wedding of their youngest son, Paisho Thiumai, at the Giving Tree in Imphal. Relatives later insisted on a small reception at Konsakhul on 12 May.
It was while returning home from that celebration that Manu, Dilip, their wives, and other villagers were abducted.
For the Thiumai family, a moment of joy has turned, within days, into a nightmare still waiting for an end.
- by Poujenlung Gonmei
Kuki terrorist must release the 6 Naga hostages . His family are waiting for him to return safely 🙏🙏🙏