Mr. Hmangtinsiek Sinate of India claims to be 116 years old. If verified, he will be the oldest person living. Photo:- Sikhawvar

Bangalore: The world may soon be having the new oldest man in Mr. Hmangtinsiek Sinate, who claims to be 116 years old.

Media report said that the man from the Indian village of Muolvaiphei in Churachandpur district of Manipur could be the ‘oldest man living’ despite no birth records.

The man in question is said to be born 15 years before the Hmar tribe, the community to which Mr. Sinate belongs, received the Gospel of Christ. That means Mr. Sinate was born in 1895. The first Christian missionary to set foot in the Hmar Hills was Mr. Watkin R. Roberts who went to a Hmar village called Senvon in 1910.

The current holder of the Guinness Book of World Records for the oldest person living is 115-year-old Besse Cooper of the United States. The verified document said Cooper was born on 26 August 1896.

Mr. Sinate said he clearly remembers the visit of his village by Mr. Roberts. “I remember Sap Tlangval (Roberts was known by this nickname meaning ‘English Gentleman’) came to our village. I was a teenager (15 years) that time and I thought he had come to take away our dierkei (loin cloth worn by tribesmen),” Mr. Sinate old Sikhawvar monthly magazine.

During those days there were no birth records system in the area even though the Hmar inhabited areas were under the British administration.

Mr. Sinate, the father of two sons and five daughters, is said to be a healthy man who knows no sickness except for slight fever on few occasions. However, he has developed a urinary track problem in the past few months, the December issue of the magazine added.

The man is being look after by his daughter Miss Thangzatling (67 years). The two lives on a meagre $10 monthly old age pension fund Mr. Sinate got from the government besides the $30 sent to him monthly by one of his sons.

It is now up to the officials at the Gerontology Group or the Guiness World Records to do an in dept study and verify the claim. “Even if the birth certificate is not available the correct age of people can be ascertained by DNA samples,” experts at a government-run hospital in Bangalore told Mothersforum.org

Well, if Mr. Sinate’s claim is verified, India will soon be host to the world’s oldest man.

Lily is a housewife,part-time blogger and an an airline staff. In short, she is the all-in-one woman who loves to explore new ideas. She is the co-founder of Mothersforum.org.

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