Takhellambam Komberei (70), a diabetic, died of starvation and lack of medicare owing to the ongoing protest by tribal students in Manipur.
While going to her home at Jiribam from here on May 5, the bus in which she was travelling was stranded on Highway 53 as a result of a blockade by the All Naga Students' Association Manipur, the Zeliangrong Students' Union and others. She and other passengers managed to cook rice purchased at an exorbitant price of Rs. 200 a kg from the nearby village and eat. But soon nothing was available in the village market and they started eating roots, herbs and green bananas found on the mountain slopes. The old woman then started trekking up to Sibilong, but soon collapsed and died by the roadside.
