GUWAHATI: Suspected militants shot and killed a woman in violence-hit Manipur on Saturday. The victim, who was in her twenties, was from the Meitei community.
The incident took place in Saiton village, located in Bishnupur district of the Imphal valley, close to the hill district of Churachandpur.
Locals said the woman, along with others, had gone to the paddy fields to tend to the crops when they came under fire from the nearby hills. She was killed on the spot.
The locals expressed their anger after the incident. They criticised the security forces deployed in the area for their alleged inaction. In response, the authorities deployed additional forces to the area.
The incident happened just days after the killing of a 31-year-old tribal woman by suspected militants in the Jiribam district on Thursday evening.
The Kuki-Zo Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum claimed that the woman, Zosangkim Hmar, a mother of three, was shot, captured, and burned to death.
The ethnic violence in Manipur, which broke out on May 3 last year between Meiteis and Kuki-Zo tribals, has so far claimed the lives of around 250 people. Some 60,000 others were also displaced.