Manipur woman shot dead near school day after it reopens following violence

At present central armed police force personnel are accommodated in several schools amid the ongoing violence.

A woman was shot dead near a school in Imphal West district of Manipur on Thursday morning, a day after schools resumed classes in the state, police said.

(Representative Photo)

Police said the incident took place at around 8:40am near Sishu Nistha Niketan School. The woman’s body has been sent for post-mortem.

Schools were shut for over two months in view of the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur.

Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh on Monday announced that schools would reopen from July 5 for up to Class 8, except 96 schools in the worst-affected areas. Students from Classes 9 to 12 can return once the construction of prefabricated houses is completed and displaced people taking shelters at different relief camps are relocated, Singh announced.

The northeastern state has been witnessing ethnic clashes between the tribal communities – Meitei and Kuki – which have claimed at least 122 lives so far, injured over 300 and displaced around 50,000.