Sixty people who died in fighting between different groups in Manipur, a state in India, will be buried almost eight months after the violence.
64 people who died in the fighting were given back to their families on Thursday.
The Meitei group and Kuki group started fighting on May 3rd because they couldn’t agree on how to share government benefits.
At least 170 people were killed and many more had to leave their homes because of the violence.
64 dead bodies were being kept in government morgues since early May. They belonged to the Kuki and Meitei communities. They were flown from the city Imphal and Churachandpur district to their families in other areas of the state.
The Committee on Tribal Unity, a group that helps tribal communities in Manipur, asked for a 12-hour closing on Friday in Kangpokpi district in memory of the Kuki victims.
The committee said that giving the bodies back was a long process and the return was eagerly anticipated after eight months of sadness, heartbreak, and hopelessness.
The fighting between the Kukis and Meiteis has been very violent, with lots of people being killed and women being sexually assaulted. Most of the people who have been killed are Kukis.
In August, the highest court in India made a group of three retired judges from high courts to check on how to help and support people in the state.
The committee’s report said that out of 175 people who died during the fights in the state, they were able to identify 169 of them, but only 81 of the bodies were picked up by their families.
In November, the court told the state government to help bury or burn the bodies that were not claimed in morgues by December.