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The story behind Mizoram’s mystery tombstone

First Published: 28th September, 2023 12:09 IST

The words on the tombstone reads: 'Here rests peacefully God's Loved One whose identity and family remain unknown

In the town of Lawngtlai in southern Mizoram, there’s a simple tombstone that holds an interesting story. It’s not like the memorials for soldiers. Instead, it marks the memory of an ordinary woman whose identity remains a mystery.

The story began on a sad day, February 6, when a very decayed body was found near the road, just outside Melthum (Three Miles) village, near Aizawl. At first, everyone thought it was Zahleipari, a 28-year-old woman from Vengpui in Lawngtlai. Sadly, even her own family thought it was her.
On February 9, Zahleipari was buried in the calm cemetery in Vengpui. But fate had played a cruel trick. On February 28, they found out that the body was not Zahleipari’s. She was still alive.

The local Young Lai Association told the police about the mistake and promised to dig up the body to find out who it really was. Following the customs of the Mizo Christian community, a tombstone was put up for this unknown woman on September 23 by the Vengpui unit of the Young Lai Association.

The words on the tombstone tell a sad truth: ‘Here rests peacefully God’s Loved One whose identity and family remain unknown.’

If the initial mistake hadn’t linked the body to Zahleipari, it might have been buried in Riangvai Thlanmual, a cemetery outside Aizawl for unclaimed souls. There, it would have joined many others without a special tombstone.

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