New Delhi: Sixty-two-year-old Nu Donngaihching Hangzo was shot dead by unidentified people outside a school in Manipur’s Imphal West district on July 6. Her friends and relatives are now demanding an inquiry into and action against those who not just killed her but “falsely” implicated her as a suicide bomber.Nu was suffering from schizophrenia for more than 30 years, her relative Tara Manchiin Hangzo, who is an ex-member of the Manipur state commission for Scheduled Tribes (ST), told The Wire.“Our WhatsApp group has been flooding with her memories and how we all find it so difficult to tolerate and understand the cruelty that has been thrown upon her … they [the assailants] not only killed her but also tarnished her ‘being’ by branding her with unbelievable terms like ‘suicide bomber’,” Tara said.Tara herself fled Manipur after ethnic clashes erupted in the state on May 3, and is currently living in New Delhi. Most of Nu’s family members and friends had also left the state. “But she stayed back saying nothing would happen,” Tara said.“On July 6, 2023, news emerged that she had been shot at close range outside Shishu Nistha Niketan School in Imphal West. Her own relatives discovered this distressing information after disturbing images of [Nu] were circulated on social media,” she added.The Lamphelpat unit of the Young Paite Association, a charity organisation, used to take care of her. A local church built a small home for her, and for food and provisions, she used to work at the homes of people living nearby.Watch | 2 Months of Manipur Riots: People Say Present and Future Have Been Destroyed, State Has Failed ThemHer friends had failed to convince her to leave Manipur in the last two months because she did not want to leave her newfound “home that she had gotten after years”, Tara said.The former member the of state’s ST commission also said that while there was more than one version of how Nu died, she personally believes that Nu had hired an autorickshaw to go to [Tara’s] home on July 6 under the delusion that she would still be there, and was killed on the way. “Her home was only a few yards away from mine,” Tara said.The arson in the state has hit all services, including healthcare. Consequently, Nu was left with no medicines. This deteriorated her mental condition, because of which she was unaware of the gravity of Manipur’s current circumstances and believed that things were business-as-usual. People in her neighbourhood knew that she suffered from a mental illness and would take care of her. Despite the exodus of a large number of people from her community, Nu chose to stay at Lamphelpat, where she got support from others.However, despite her illness, she was very conscious of her surroundings and the place where she lived. She was witty and could speak many dialects, Tara said.The Wire also contacted one of Nu’s sisters-in-law over the phone, but she declined to speak with us. According to media reports, police have registered a case. Tara said she didn’t know about this, but added that she and other well-wishers of Nu would pursue legal action against those who killed her.Also Read: Who Is in Charge of Manipur?Meanwhile, a 19-year-old student was killed in a gun battle in the state’s Bishnupur district on Saturday, July 7. He was studying in Class XI at the Multipurpose Higher Secondary School in Moirang town.An Ukhrul Times report cited the student’s family members as saying that he was on his way to a relief camp – as his village had been attacked – when he was hit by a bullet.About 150 people have been killed so far in the violence between the majority Meitei and minority Kuki communities that has lasted for more than two months now.The Manipur Police has said that a joint team of the Central Armed Police Forces and state police are conducting operations in areas dominated by both warring communities in order to destroy the bunkers being used by assailants.The Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), in a statement, has criticised chief minister N. Biren Singh’s decision of destroying bunkers and warned him “not to interfere” in the security and safety of the tribal communities.