SHILLONG: The family members of Lucky Marbaniang, whose decomposed body parts were found from the Umiam lake, said it was difficult to believe that she killed herself and wanted proper investigation into her death as there is a suspicion of murder.
“We do not suspect anyone but we want to know what happened. We also do not know whether it is suicide as claimed by police. I will always regret that I could not fulfill my duties as a daughter,” said daughter Deborah Marbaniang.
The 60-year-old woman went missing from home in the wee hours of July 11. Her torso with the head and arms was found on July 13 at Umiam lake near Mawdun village, Ri Bhoi and five days later, police found one leg from the same area. One more leg was recovered later.
To a question whether it is murder, the daughter said there are cases of menshohnoh attacking people for blood. Deborah, who stays with her husband Nicholas Abraham Tariang and two children at Laban Last Stop , told The Shillong Times that her mother was cheerful even in February but her mental health weakened during the lockdown and amid fear of the pandemic. She said the evening of July 10 was usual and the family retired to bed after dinner and prayers.
“Around 2.30am, I went to her room to check whether she was fine. She was not there and so I went to check the bathroom. But she was not there too. Then we panicked and started calling our relatives. It was raining heavily that night,” said Tariang.
Deborah said they have to pass by her mother’s room while going to common toilet. Her mother was “suffering from depression” but she slept well at night, the daughter added.
Tariang informed that the front gate that opens to the Laban Last stop main road and the middle gate leading to the staircase were closed. He said Lucky jumped the iron railing of the middle gate, which is around 3 ft, to land on the staircase and then jumped the back gate that opens to Oxford, which is around 3.5 ft and was locked too. But the duo added that they were guessing that Lucky took the back gate “because the height is lower than the other one”.
Psychologically weak
Deborah said her mother became mentally weak after her father left her. Deborah was only two years old. Lucky did not give up hope that her husband would come back one day. “She became psychologically weak after my father left. She met with an accident when I was seven years and suffered a head injury. This, also affected her brain,” the 39-year-old daughter said.
During the lockdown, Lucky would worry all the time and be depressed about the situation. She would often say that the world would end. “The person who was so happy before the lockdown stopped smiling,” the daughter added.
Lucky lived at Nongbah-Bynther in Mairang. Deborah, who has no sibling, mostly grew up there. She studied in Shillong for a few years but went back to the village “because I missed my mother who lived alone”.
Before the first phase of the lockdown, Lucky fell ill and came to Shillong for treatment. She had been living with Deborah’s family since then. But Lucky longed to go back to her village and would often tell her daughter about it. “I could not take the risk. With me, she would not eat because she feared that food stock would be over. If I asked her to take a second helping, she refused. She would be angry if I gave more food to my children. I would try to calm her down. If I had let her live in the village alone, she would have starved to death,” Deborah said.
“Had it not been for the pandemic, my mother would have been alive,” she added.
The couple and other relatives searched the nearby forests, Lawsohtun, Upper Shillong and Laban and went to the Umiam too. “After police found the body we were asked to identify. We went to the morgue on July 14 but the body and face were decomposed and we could not identify. It was the earring that the cops found helped us identify. Initially, I was not sure so I checked an old photo from my wedding and we found similarity,” said Deborah.
The police have retrieved only one gold earring and the daughter informed that when they checked the body in the morgue, the earring was not there. According to one source of information, the earring was found near the severed leg. However, police said in a statement on July 21 that the earring was “found from the body”.
Interestingly, police are yet to confirm that it was a murder and not suicide.
Unanswered questions
There are several questions which remain unanswered. First, why are police still saying it is a case of suicide when Lucky’s mutilated body was found? Why did Lucky leave that night? How did a 60-year-old jump a railing and step on the narrow parapet to get on the stairs when she was not keeping well? Was there anyone to help her?
Deborah said her mother did not speak to anyone on phone that day or even before.
How did Lucky reach Umiam? If it was only theft, why was one earring left back? Why would a petty thief kill her for a pair of earrings, take the trouble of mutilating the body and disposing it of so far from the city? Why would police take the earring out of her ear? Where was it found actually? Was there any struggle?