Post-mortem confirms severe trauma caused death of Manipuri musician Vikram Singh

Manipuri musician Chongtham Vikram Singh died of massive internal bleeding caused by severe physical trauma to his chest and abdomen, according to his post-mortem report released on Thursday.

The 54-year-old was allegedly attacked by a group of men after he confronted them over noise outside his house in Kilokari village on Sunday.

A senior police officer said the attackers kicked Singh on his chest and abdomen after he fell to the ground. The post-mortem findings established the nature of the injuries sustained during the assault, the officer said.

Dr Sudhir Gupta, Chief of Forensic Medicine at AIIMS, said Singh died following severe physical assault on his chest and abdomen, which resulted in massive bleeding.

The AIIMS post-mortem report found fractures of the first to 11th ribs on the left side and the sixth to ninth ribs on the right side. Bleeding and blood clots were found around the fractures, while a splenic laceration was also detected.

According to police, Singh was taken to Holy Family Hospital after the assault. He was brought to the hospital at around 1:30 am after being taken there from the spot at around 12:25 am. He initially responded positively to treatment but later suffered a haemorrhage and died at around 6:32 am.

Police have arrested seven men and apprehended a juvenile in connection with the case. The accused were identified as Bharat Kumar, 19, Pramod, 26, Ramzan Khan, 22, Deepanshu, 21, Mohan Vishwakarma, 32, Vijay, 36, and Mannu, 26.

During questioning, the accused allegedly told police that they wanted to “teach him a lesson” after Singh objected to the noise and commotion outside his home, but did not expect the assault to turn fatal.

Police said Singh had on some occasions complained to the owner of a nearby dhaba about noise caused by people gathering there. However, no formal complaint had been received from him regarding the issue.

The dhaba remained open until around midnight and attracted customers from neighbouring areas as well as students living nearby, police said.

The incident took place around 11:30 pm when Singh went downstairs after hearing a commotion outside his home. In his complaint to police, Singh’s 20-year-old son Yaiphaba said he opened the door after hearing his father shouting and saw a group of men kicking and punching him.

Singh later returned upstairs but complained of breathlessness. His son then took him to hospital.

Police are also examining whether there was any racial angle to the incident. So far, the investigation has not found any instance of a racial slur being used against Singh during the altercation, a police source said.

The FIR registered at Sunlight Colony police station on the complaint of Singh’s son invokes Section 103(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, relating to murder in circumstances covered by the provision.