Malakpur village, Shamli:
In a refugee camp of 600 families in Malakpur village in Shamli district neighbouring Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, at least eight lives have been lost in the last month. Six of the dead were children with most of them under the age of four.
Abdul Gaffar lost his 3-year-old boy Anu a fortnight ago. His wife says Anu had diarrhea and fever which he got due to the filthy conditions in the camp and dropping temperature. The only blanket the family has was given to them after Anu's death a week ago.
Dilshana lost her five-month-old unborn baby. She was rushed to the hospital in a critical condition since there is no medical help at the camp. Having lost everything the family owned in the riots, her husband had to borrow Rs 15000 for her treatment.
Gulshad, the care taker of the camp, claims 25 people have died since they took shelter here but the families of many of those have shifted out.
The victims say the doctors have stopped visiting the camps but mosquitoes haven't.
Even as their troubles mount, no one wants to leave. Abdul and his wife still fear they may be killed if they return to their village. Abdul says, "In some villages Muslims are not allowed to enter."
"We will not go, we fear the Jats will kill us," says his wife.
Zubaida, another refugee at the Malakpur camp, brings up other issues. She says most school-going children are helpless since there there is no school around the camp.
Desperate to restart their lives, the thousands of victims in these camps are now hoping for warm clothes, blankets and quilts as temperature begins to dip.
The survivors of one of the worst communal violence in recent times have been living in this camp for the last three months, accompanied by fear and filth. Victims of hatred, they are now fighting the onslaught of cold weather.