The Case of Longti Village is Sentilong Ozukum’s fourth book and his first attempt at thriller/horror genre. Published in October 2021, the Kindle version of the novel climbed to Amazon’s Top 100 books in the month of November 2021. Currently the book has a star rating of 4.5 in www.amazon.in.
Mokokchung Times Feature
The Plot
When a strange writing appears mysteriously on the church walls of the otherwise quiet Longti Village, its inhabitants are perturbed by a series of inexplicable events. A raging madman, a grieving mother, an unbelieving inspector, an exorcist and a confused pastor, among many, are some of the conspicuous characters who take centre stage as the plot unfolds to reveal the unexpected sinister elements at play.
Breaking away from the conventional single strand narrative, the plot is woven together through a series of first person narrative from the perspective of Abha, a young doctor in the city, who had returned home, and statements collected by the police from the inhabitants of the village. The plot takes over a period of five days as the police inspector, convinced that there is some mischief at work, tirelessly takes statements from the inhabitants, hoping to find a rational explanation to the ‘who-dunnit’ question, only to be rendered exasperated.
Interestingly, on finding out that the strange writing on the wall is indeed an ancient Hebrew text written upside down, conveying the message of God’s wrath to be unleashed on the people from the book of Ezekiel, it spirals the village into a frenzy. Coupled with Vikta’s possession and the strange illness that befalls upon the inhabitants of Longti village, it dawns on the villagers that something is amiss. Abha’s skeptical voice of reason narrates the sequence of events that transpires over the next couple of days.
A village council meeting is called and the Ung, who is the head of the village, and was accused by Vikta’s possessed body of being a murderer in the church premises on Sunday morning, is suspiciously missing. As the commotion in the village council meeting reaches a crescendo, the Ung is excommunicated from the village in the afternoon, following which the mysteriously sick people start to get better.
Seven months later, Abha comes back to the village to visit Vikta who is out of a six month long stay at the psychiatric ward. His rational mind could still not accept what had occurred and accosts Vikta to spill the beans. Vikta responds in a series of supposed events that could have happened to satisfy Abha’s rational and scientifically driven mind. However, he quickly retracts and denies that he had a hand in whatever had happened. He had indeed been taken into the forest by a spirit where he met his dead father. Abha, the narrator, at the end of the story is baffled and is left wondering if one will ever know what truth is.
REVIEWS
“Sentilong Ozukum is one of the greatest storytellers of our time, and given his knack for compelling prose, it’s hardly surprising that this book is impossible to put down.” -Vishü Rita Krocha, Journalist & Poet.
The Case of Longti Village begins quite innocuously with petty vandalism, but you quickly discover that this is not your run-of-the-mill police case, and yet not too far-fetched within the Naga social reality. An engrossing read, Sentilong Ozukum weaves folkloric elements into his fiction with a suspenseful plot, while underscoring the tensions between different kinds of belief systems and worldviews, institutionalized Christianity and indigenous Naga beliefs & spirituality, without sounding sanctimonious. – Talilula Longchar, Author of She Who Walks Backwards.
“The Case of Longti Village is a fascinating and thrilling portrait of a community which is a testament that literature holds up a mirror to society. Ozukum effortlessly interweaves the past and the present, natural and supernatural, science and superstitions and also the ubiquitous conflict in literature as in life – the conflict between good and evil.” – Neikehienuo Mepfhu-o, Author of My Mother’s Daughter
“A master class work from Nagaland’s beloved storyteller. Sentilong Ozukum has woven together a plot, so irresistible and unpredictable by weaving the fabrics of religion, superstitions and science into a pattern that adequately mirrors the society we currently inhibit.” Bendang Walling, Filmmaker & Director, Hill Theatre.