Fleeing from attack, Manipur people take refuge in makeshift jungle camps

Annu Doungel, 67, and five of her family members hurriedly packed up bags taking some rice and a few utensils and fled to the jungle on foot, trekking around two hours in the dark leaving Bethel, a tribal village 30 kms to the northwest of Imphal, which till the other day was an abode of peace.

Doungel and her husband, both retired government employees, are now staying in makeshift camps made of tarpaulin and bamboo, along with their grandchildren and sons. Other family members were not at home when they had to leave hastily.

She has managed to bring from home some rice, but for everything else, they depend on the produce the jungle offers

water from streams, and wild vegetables and edible leaves from plants in the forest.

We left in the wee hours on Thursday after attacks on villages inhabited by non-Meitei people. We heard that group armed with guns and daos (machetes) are coming and burning village after village, Doungel told PTI over the phone.

Doungel and her family abandone