Life will never be the same again for the parents of Yumlembam Sanamacha. Since the day, their 15 year old son Sanamacha was taken away by the personnel of 17 Rajputana Rifles of the Indian Army, they have not had a moment's peace. Two years have gone by, without any news of his whereabouts.

Yumlembam Jugol Singh mostly stays away from home, a place full of memories of his innocent son. The family is in shambles and he is constantly hounded by his relatives and members of the clan to perform the last rites of his 'disappeared' son.

Jugol Singh carries no fond hope of his son coming back. He has heard enough of the eyewitness accounts of persons who last heard and saw Sanamacha in the army camp. he has also heard of past 'disappearances' engineered by the army and he is no fool.

But he wants justice. He wants the army authorities to admit to the crime. The army tried to hoodwink him once by denying the arrest of his son. When facts of the arrest came out, they came up with another concocted story of Sanamacha escaping from army custody. So he wants the truth.

Although his disappearance from army custody has been established, his 'death' is an assumption. Anyway, an unofficial mourning within the clan had begun, as repots of his possible death resulting from torture in army custody started coming in.

Normally, mourning of the dead is terminated after the last rites. During the mourning period, all other religious ceremonies within the clan are postponed, clan members are barred from attending the ceremonies of other families and eating of fish or meat is prohibited.

For the relatives of Sanamacha's family, the mourning has to end somewhere. They have begun asking questions. How long can such abstinence continue ? How can Jugol Singh, a simple villager, defeat the might of the Indian Army ? Why must his quest for justice affect our lives ?

So they say, life has to go on. One has to bury his own 'dead'. And stories of excommunicating his family from the Yumlembam clan has already started doing the rounds. For Jugol Singh, it is a dilemma.

All his savings have been exhausted in paying lawyer's fees. How long can he sustain the fees and expenses ? What with the tempting offers of employment of a family member from the army authorities and the state government. So far, he has been able to persuade his immediate family members from even entertaining such a thought.

He no longer attends to his official duties at the palace in Imphal, where he holds a customary position and draws a small allowance. he was a popular Meitei Pung (an indigenous drum) player of the area and it was another source of income for him. Since the disappearance and the mourning which followed, he has stopped performing with the pung at religious ceremonies.

Previously, his wife Arubi Devi used to sell fish at the local Yairipok market and contribute to the family income. Since the disappearance, she has stopped going to the market as she lives in a perpetual state of delirium. His two other sons cannot offer much help, as they have to look after their own family.

Jugol Sigh is a very lonely person these days. But he constantly tells himself, he has to remain sane till the end of the quest. All he wants is justice and a piece of bone of his son.

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