GUWAHATI: Villagers shouted war cries, and a group performed a war dance in full battle attire, but this was no festival or show for VIPs.
On Monday, hundreds of villagers, armed with machetes and muskets, gathered in a village in the Tobu area of eastern Nagaland’s Mon district. The scene was reminiscent of village battles during the head-hunting days. However, this time, the villagers had come to “avenge” the deaths of two people, killed by a huge wild boar.
The animal had fatally attacked P. Angba (42) and S. Aknyu (60), from Kenjenshu village, in separate incidents. Aknyu was the village headman.
Videos circulating on social media showed villagers carrying the boar’s carcass, placed on a bamboo-made structure, on their shoulders in a procession towards the village. Upon arrival, some villagers repeatedly struck the dead animal, still tied to bamboos, with machetes. Among them were two women – one had lost her son and the other her husband in the boar attacks. Some villagers stomped on the carcass, while women were heard wailing.
In another video, male villagers circled the carcass, brandishing their guns and machetes. One villager even bit the dead animal.
Hongnao Konyak, a Konyak tribe leader, explained, “It was a sudden outburst of emotions – anger, joy, sadness. They avenged the killings of the two villagers.”
The wild boar had first attacked Angba on 3rd October when he and others ventured into the jungle. Angba, severely injured, was taken to the district hospital in Mon.
The following day, another group of villagers entered the jungle to hunt the animal, but the boar attacked and killed Aknyu on the spot. On the same day, Angba succumbed to his injuries in the hospital.
“The villagers were angry and wanted to avenge the killings, so they entered the jungle again yesterday (Monday) and killed the boar,” Konyak said. The carcass was later buried.
The Konyaks, a major Naga ethnic group, are spread across Nagaland, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Myanmar. Mon district is home to the Konyaks in Nagaland.
Historically, the Konyaks had frequent clashes with neighbouring villages, which often resulted in killings and the decapitation of opposing warriors. To this day, some households still keep the severed heads as “trophies.” The number of heads indicated a warrior’s power.