A village in India's northeast mourns after deadly attacks
ABC News
High up in the hills along India's border with Myanmar, Oting village in the northeastern state of Nagaland is in mourning after more than a dozen people were killed by soldiers
OTING, India -- It was 2004 when a bear mauled Nenwang Konyak in the forest in Mon district, high up in the hills along India’s border with Myanmar. The men in his village, Oting, rescued him and carried him home. He survived, thanks to them, but was left with a jagged scar running down his face.
When Nenwang heard that his village had called for a search team earlier this month to look for a group of laborers who were missing, he didn’t hesitate. He and his 23-year-old twin brothers joined them on Dec. 4, not knowing that the laborers had already been killed by Indian soldiers. Later that day, seven men in the search party were killed by the soldiers -– and Nenwang returned home without his twin brothers.
Like others in the village, he is haunted by the events of Dec. 4 and 5, when 14 civilians and a soldier were killed in a series of attacks in the northeastern state of Nagaland. Twelve of men, most of them coal miners, were from Oting village. The violence, among the deadliest to hit the state in recent years, sparked national anger and headlines -– and left Oting reeling with shock and grief.
“Even Christmas will bring no joy. Our hearts are hurting. They were our own children,” said Among, a 50-year-old Christian woman in the village.
